On Abortion Viability Can not Be Our Long-Term Answer

During Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing she was asked many times about abortion; in fact, One Republican senator spent several minutes asking Judge Sotomayor about the viability standard. In other words, is it acceptable to abort a fetus once it is able to live outside of the mother?

What if, in the future, a group of scientist develops a synthetic womb that can function exactly like the female uterus? In that case any fetus—as soon as it is conceived—would be viable. So, if viability was the legal standard abortion would become de facto illegal in America. Obviously, this is the result many hard-line conservatives would like to see, but it is simply not a practical one for our society as a whole.

In a nation where many children are living without homes and where one million fetuses a year are being aborted we can not afford to create a standard of permissible abortions that could wind up cannibalizing itself. Unfortunately, the only way for America to guarantee that the sad but necessary practice of legal abortions continues is to leave the decision up to individual women.

American Judges Should Consider Foreign Law

Throughout Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing Republicans have spent a great deal of time questioning her about the value of foreign law to America’s judicial system. Personally, I have no idea why so many Republicans are so concerned about judges consulting foreign law when deciding cases. This does not mean that members of America’s judiciary should use foreign law to settle disputes, but it is there really something wrong with a judge looking at the jurisprudence of other nations to see if bright lawyers in those nations have developed a creative solution for a difficult legal question?

Currently, judges are free to look at many sources beyond the Constitution and our written laws when they consider the facts of cases before them. Courts routinely reference articles and books written by academics, how is considering those sources any different than reading a careful opinion written by a foreign judge? If we force judges to ignore what is happening in the courts of foreign nations we are pretending that our legal system has adequately solved every legal problem the world has ever seen. The reality is that there are many gifted lawyers in countries not named America. What is wrong with considering their contributions to the advancement of laws? If French doctors found a cure for cancer should America reject using it until American doctors create their own? Obviously, the answer is no. So, why is it so wrong for America’s judges to consult the approaches used by foreign judges who may have considered principles not before considered by American courts?

India Should Worry More About Helping Poor people Than What Rich People Say About Them

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, a member of India’s governing Congress party, has been arrested and will be held for 14 days. Ms. Joshi was taken into custody after she criticized the rape compensation policy of one of the nation’s provinces as being so low it is demeaning. She added that rape victims should offer to compensate the state chief minister who oversees the policy, and is a woman, should she ever be raped.

Since the speech Joshi has apologized, but citizens have still seen fit to burn down her house and set several cars on fire. So far, the government is charging her with making provocative comments which created “disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will” between people of different casts or communities. She has also been charged under a law that deems the making of statements against people of lower casts or tribespeople an offense.

India deserves much credit for its commitment to democracy. But what does it say about a nation when people of different classes are legally discouraged from criticizing each other? I have never been to India, but it seems as if the nation’s society revolves around a system of class that is far beyond anything I can imagine. If I were a member of a lower cast I would find it patronizing if the government passed a set of laws designed to prevent wealthier people from talking about me. Instead of worrying so much about the hurt feelings of its poor people India would be wise to do more to help them get out of the impoverished lives they are living.

Hamas Kids Show Promotes Suicide Bombings

Over the passed few months we have discussed some pretty horrific news stories coming out of Arab areas, but this is by far the worst! In fact, I would be shocked if I ever find anything as awful and tragic as this to write about again.

A Hamas-run television program for children has recently shown a program where actors were reenacting a woman’s preparations for a suicide bombing in front of the woman’s children. In the show an actress is seen getting her belt of explosives ready while she ignores her questions from the actors pretending to be her children. At one point, one of the pretend children asks the pretend mother if the thing she has in her arms is a present for her as the pretend mother holds the munitions that are meant to kill Israelis.

At the conclusion of the show the children are shown footage of the actual blast carried out by a mother in 2004 which killed four Israelis As one of the pretend children says that they now know what was more important than them.

This show, which was amazingly produced for kids, shows just how screwed up Hamas is. I am still committed to a two-state solution. But if the world—and the Palestinians can not find a way to remove the influence Hamas has over the Palestinian people there will never be piece between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Objecting to Israel’s occupation is one thing. Being angry about some of the tactics used by Israel against the people of Gaza in January’s war is justifiable. But producing and broadcasting television programs that teach children that blowing themselves up in an attempt to kill innocent Israeli civilians is despicable.

As I sit here I would like to suggest cutting off all aid to the Palestinians until they renounce Hamas, but I am afraid that decision would only inspire many Palestinians to continue blaming the West and Israel for all of their problems. The only solution that seems remotely possible is if the world puts together a united force to drive Hamas out of power in Gaza. Once that is done the UN should be charged with assisting the Palestinians in creating a real government. Of course, this new government could not be led by the PLO, because that would further the strong divisions that exist between the Palestinians. Honestly, it does not appear that the Palestinian people will ever be capable of freeing themselves from extremists without outside intervention. Of course, this plan should never be implemented unless countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt agree to contribute many troops and much cash to the effort.

More Evidence Why Fertility Treatments Should be Illegal

Maria del Carmen Bousada has died leaving her two-year-old twins without a parent. Normally, this is not the kind of story I would write about, but Ms. Bousada’s story is anything but ordinary.

A couple of years ago the resident of Madrid, Spain sold her house and paid a California fertility clinic to artificially inseminate her. In her applications Ms. Bousada told the clinic that she was 55 years old, but it turned out the single woman was really 66. Several months later she became the oldest woman to ever give birth. And, of course, the fertility treatments resulted in the creation of twins.

Readers of this blog know that I believe fertility treatments should be outlawed. While I know most people do not agree with my position I am hopeful that almost all of you will agree that fertility clinics must be more tightly regulated. Societies can not allow selfish people to make stupid decisions that negatively impact the lives of children and leave governments responsible for their care. As long as we are going to allow people to defy nature and create births where they are not intended we must do everything within our power to make sure they are limited to those who can prove they are likely to be able to care for their children without government assistance.

Al Jazeera Barred From the West Bank

The Palestinian Authority has barred Al Jazeera, an Arab news network, from broadcasting from the territory. According to the Palestinian Authority Al Jazeera has not been balanced in its reporting.

Health Care Reform Must Be Funded By a Tax Increase

Given the serious economic crisis Massachusetts, the first state to offer near universal health care, has decided to stop subsidizing health care for permanent, legal residents who have lived in the state for less than five years. The change is expected to save the state 130 million dollars. The state’s Democratic governor is attempting to restore 70 million dollars of funding to the program to provide permanent, legal residents some degree of basic health care, but the legislature is opposed to the governor’s effort.

Currently, Massachusetts has the lowest percentage of uninsured at 2.6 percent. The national average is 15 percent. Obviously, the Massachusetts experiment has worked. As the debate moves forward our nation can learn much from the experiences of Massachusetts. As this news demonstrates, however, health care reform will suffer unless a serious, dedicated funding source is allocated specifically to fund health insurance. By failing to dedicate a consistent source of funding to the state’s health insurance program the difficult economy we are all living through has forced the state to begin reneging on its noble commitment to providing health care to as many of its residents as possible. If America is to avoid making health insurance for the poor dependent on the health of our economy we must guarantee that health reform will be fully funded no matter how the economy is doing on a daily basis. Of course, the best way to guarantee health care for the vast majority of Americans is to dedicate a tax increase solely to the administration of health care.

Judges Really do Make Law

I have grown tired of Republicans convincing Democrats that judges do not make law. This argument has become so damn tiresome, because even as cynical as I am I believe most of those who are advancing this falsehood are smart enough to know they are misleading the public. The reality is that judges do, in fact, make laws. In law school we spend much of our time reading things called case books which educate us about something called case law. As you may have guessed, case law is law that has been created by judicial opinions. In many areas of the law (most notably contract law and torts) a lot of the law in the field has been created by judges. Many watching the Sotomayor hearing would be shocked to know that there are things called restatements of laws which are written largely by academics and carry a great deal of influence over judicial decisions. It is true that restatements are not binding, but it is just as true that they often play a significant role in the development of case law and that they are regularly referenced in judicial opinions.

So, as you watch the rest of the hearing please remember that judges do make laws, and that our legal system and our society would not function nearly as smoothly as they do if the judicial branch was not actively creating law.

Americans Need to Help America Reduce its Deficit

For the first time in American history our annual budget deficit has surpassed one trillion dollars. The administration is projecting that by the time the fiscal year ends in October the budget deficit for the current year will be more than 1.8 trillion dollars. This year’s budget deficit will be roughly four times greater than the record deficit set in the previous fiscal year. Last year, 452 billion dollars were spent servicing our national debt. After Medicare-Medicaid, Social Security, and defense America’s biggest expenditure was paying interest on our accumulated debt.

Even though I am a progressive our national debt is one of my greatest concerns. The problems we could face if we are not able to reduce the amount of borrowing we are doing are endless. However, Republicans are wrong to suggest that, given the unbelievable size of our debt, we need to refrain from spending money to reform health care, provide greater educational opportunities, and end our dependence on foreign oil. Spending money to solve these decades-old problems may be difficult in the short term, but President Obama is right when he points out that the longer we wait to address these problems the more expensive the solutions become.

Now is the time for all Americans to understand that part of being a responsible, patriotic American is doing what we can to save our nation from future economic disasters. Given the numerous problems our nation is confronting at the present time Americans must get over the selfish notion that any dollar they are asked to contribute to the federal government is a dollar taken from them. The reality is that if Americans are not willing to contribute a few more of their dollars to allow our government to solve some of the problems that America has been unwilling to solve for decades America risks becoming totally dependent on foreign nations, most notably China, to survive. And before you complain about the cost of health care and of creating alternative sources of energy you need to remember that you have the power to lower your tax burden. If all Americans become healthier and use less energy the amount needed to solve those problems will be diminished. So, the next time you scream about the amount of taxes you are paying grab you’re neighbor and go for a run. That way, you will be using your anger to do what you can to decrease the tax burden all of us will face.

Prison Officials Should be Able to Jam Cell Phone Signals

Corrections officials from 25 states have filed a petition with the FCC asking for the right to jam cell phone signals in prisons. According to the corrections officials, many crimes are being organized from prison on hidden cell phones.

This is a great idea. Anything we can do to make the commission of crime less is worth implementing. Of course, corrections officials could prevent this by keeping cell phones out of prisons, but jamming cell phone signals seems like a good backup plan.