Justifiable idiocy

I thought I’d heard it all when my editors and fellow opinion columnists informed me Virginia had tried to pass legislation to vaginally probe pregnant women seeking abortions. Apparently, I was mistaken.

The madness continues with Nebraska and Iowa.

Both have bills that could allow for people to claim “justifiable homicide” as a defense if they kill an abortion doctor or a “family planning worker.”

South Dakota had a similar bill not too long ago, but they “shelved” it after protests were made by the public. Did they think it’d be received in any other way?

It’s incomprehensible. How can the killing of someone who, by law, isn’t doing anything wrong be placed in the same category as self-defense? It can’t, or at least it should never be allowed.

Back in 2011, South Dakota state Rep. Phil Jensen, R-District 33, stated this interpretation of the bill he sponsored was “absurd.”

However, this is exactly what some murderers have claimed as defense after being arrested for killing abortion providers.

Todd Miller, a criminal defense attorney in Des Moines, Iowa, said the combination of these bills could lead to “startling” ramification, such as the implicitly legalized killing of abortion providers.

The bills he mentioned are extremely similar to the nearly identical Nebraska and South Dakota bills, so his findings are applicable to them as well.

So, why can’t a state legislator, who is in charge of creating laws to better all of our lives, not see what a lawyer is able to see?

And it’s not just other lawyers who are able to see how these bills will be used to protect murderers. Law enforcement and others are concerned about the repercussions as well.

David Baker, deputy chief executive officer of the Omaha police department, also testified against the bill in Nebraska.

He stated, “(The police) share the same fears ... that this could be used to incite violence against
abortion providers.”

Melissa Grant, a Planned Parenthood employee, also testified before the Nebraska legislature, stating Planned Parenthood is worried about the safety of not only their employees, but also the people they serve.

This is due to the fact that the bill is in defense of the fetus, and it could be interpreted that a woman seeking an abortion is attempting to cause harm to said fetus.

I guess there’s no one else to blame but ourselves, the voters, and the intelligent, compassionate and globally minded people who don’t run for office even though they are qualified.

That’s the reason why narrow minded people get into these positions of power, right?

It’s time we the people started paying attention to politics at the local, state, federal and/or global level. We can’t rely on a few whistleblowers or watchdogs forever.

We, as a nation, need to realize that what our public officials do represents us and reflects on us.Some may claim, “But I didn’t vote for them,” or, “I didn’t vote at all.”

This can no longer be seen as an excuse. I don’t want to vote either because I see voting in our wonderful country as trying to pick the lesser of two evils. Which person is bad and not horrendous?

As my brother put it while I was ranting about this to him, “You can still love your country without liking your government.”

And I, as someone who wants to work in international law and possibly politics, can’t see how anyone could like a government that forgets about its constituents and makes the obviously horrible decisions ours has been making recently.

­— nsobecki@indiana.edu