The Roe v. Wade decision did not give women the right to abortion on demand.
The question in Roe was how much, if at all, the government should be allowed to interfere with a woman’s right to make her own decisions about pregnancy.
The justices ruled that during the first trimester the government has no such power. Only after the point of viability does the state have an interest in the developing child.
Forbidding abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected sounds reasonable until you know the facts.
At 6 weeks, the developing heart is simply a tiny tube twisted upon itself that contracts rhythmically. There are no internal organs, no arms or legs, no face or even a brain.
The heart is literally the first structure that can be identified amid the dividing embryonic cells.
Personally, I believe in the old-fashioned notion that quickening (when the first fetal movements are felt) marks the point at which a developing fetus becomes a person.
If there is no quickening, there will be no baby.
I advise people who listen to politicians to follow some simple rules.
First, don’t believe half of what they tell you they will do when they get into office. Second, don’t believe anything they tell you their opponents want to do (such as murder babies).
Finally, if you hear a politician say "look” or "frankly” or “believe me,” put on your skeptical hearing aids for what follows!
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