April 14, 2022: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks” (state-sponsored NPR)
April 3, 2023: “Senate passes 6-week abortion limit with rape, incest exceptions” (state-sponsored PBS)
What explains the apparent inconsistency? The PBS article:
Lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis last year passed a 15-week abortion limit But that came before the June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
I don’t think this is a complete explanation, however. If Floridians agreed a year ago that 6 weeks was the correct limit, they could have put two laws on the books, one of them inoperative until the Supreme Court ruled. So it seems safe to say that Floridians agreed that a 15-week limit was optimum a year ago, at least 1 week more than France and 3 weeks longer than Germany (the “15 weeks” period might actually be “15 weeks and 6 days”). But now we are saying, through our legislators, that 6 weeks is the right number.
(For the record, I am not offering an opinion that 6 weeks, 15 weeks, no limit (Maskachusetts), or some other time period is correct. I am noting only that 6 weeks is different from 15 weeks and the Science hasn’t changed regarding, for example, the viability of a baby born at 15 weeks.)
Related:
- “Massachusetts law about abortion” (legal at all stages of a pregnant person’s pregnancy, but one doctor has to think it is a good idea after 24 weeks)
- the local beach, below, yesterday. Let’s hope that nobody compares the body shapes to what prevailed in the 1960s or 1970s…
Very loosely related… (department of consistency): “Jury Says Tesla Must Pay Worker $3.2 Million Over Racist Treatment” (NYT).
A federal jury in San Francisco ordered Tesla on Monday to pay about $3.2 million to a Black man who had accused the carmaker of ignoring racial abuse he faced while working at its California factory.
The award was far less than the $137 million that a different jury awarded two years ago, mostly in punitive damages. The judge in that trial later reduced the figure to $15 million, prompting the plaintiff, Owen Diaz, to challenge the amount in a new trial.
It’s the same justice system, the same plaintiff, and the same facts. Yet the outcome is wildly different at slightly different times. $137 million, $15 million, and $3 million… all examples of “just” compensation.
Which body shape do you match? 1960s/70s or 2020s?
Mike: I am synced up with the times. In the 1970s I was a perfect match for the standard body shape of the 1970s. Today I am also pretty close to the median BMI!
@Mike,
Humans were a lot slimier back in 1960s, 70s, and even 80s. If we continue on this trend, we are in trouble “More than half the global population will be overweight or obese by 2035” [1].
But I agree with you, #COVID, #LockDown, #LGBTQ+, #Rainbow, and the woke agenda are far more important for humanity.
[1] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3881302-more-than-half-the-global-population-will-be-overweight-or-obese-by-2035-report/
Britain got rid of jury trials in civil cases over 40 years ago. All or most all countries in the world also have a loser pays system so a court case is , unlike in the US, not a one way bet — the loser will pay the winner’s fees, which can result in bankruptcy. So a lot more care is put into bringing and settling cases and there are lots fewer of them.
DeSantis wants to win the primary at the cost of losing the elections? Or he was overruled by his party?
Increasingly, I’m getting the feeling that a substantial number of Republicans don’t mind a Democrat president as long as he pumps up the stock market and they get to shape their own states as they want.
Anon: If Europe is a guide to what the average westerner thinks is reasonable/expedient, it does seem like a political liability to restrict abortion care for pregnant people (a critical element of reproductive health care) to less than 12 weeks. But maybe Ron DeSantis has some actual principles and if he loses he loses! Imagine that in our modern age of politics! He has done a lot of stuff in Florida that political consultants clutching poll results told him not to do (some of which is chronicled in his book). Paul Ryan was kind of like that. He quit when he realized that Americans would never give up on spending like drug dealers/alimony plaintiffs and that at least half of Americans didn’t want to kick the welfare habit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan
Ryan had (and still has?) a legitimate shot at becoming president if he would just tell Americans what they want to hear, but he refused/refuses to do that.
@philg, I hope that you are right about Ron DeSantis.
But Paul Rayan quit after he refused to push border protection aka “build the wall” through congress, thing that the caucus he used to lead had promised. Everyone said that Rayan did it because his donor base were “farmers” who underpaid illegal border crossers to do actual job. So he was “resisting” Trump before it became fashionable, basically presided over do nothing house of representatives, and lost majority.
Judging by Ron DeSantis fight with big Floridian sugar producers who are known for their past Republican support, DeSantis may be areal deal.
perplexed: If I am right about Ron D that means he doesn’t stand a chance of winning a national election! A message of independence from the government isn’t going to resonate with the majority of Americans who are now government-dependent.
Three days after they’re over, you won’t recognize the DeS who wins the primaries. He’ll bamboozle the dems and the RINOs, square up to break the finish-line tape, and some bastard will hang that photo of the white boots around his neck. The 81-year-old incumbent by a toupee hair!