Dear Amy,
Abortion is purportedly justified under the aegis of privacy. As with contraception and sodomy, abortion ls a legally protected “privacy right.”
But abortion advocates don’t stop there. We have Planned Parenthood (an NGO?) racketeering together with the State to shakedown taxpaying citizens. Leaving aside the racketeering aspect (which I don’t think has ever been legally challenged – and I don’t know why), abortion-funding advocates hoist themselves upon their own legal petard, namely:
- How can the State/an ‘aborteer‘ legally compel someone to pay for what is presumably none of their business in the first place? And by the same token,
- How can the State legally violate someone’s right to privacy to not participate in abortion? As a matter of Equal Protection, the “right to privacy” must swing both ways: “It’s my privacy-right to have and abortion” – “It’s my privacy-right NOT to be involved in an abortion”
If, in the name of privacy, X demands legal protection for an abortion (a “private” matter), then X is on their own. Don’t go knocking on any one else’s door for assistance, private-person X.
Regards,
Dan Crone
Dan,
Thanks so much for your question!.
Abortion isn’t the only instance in which this inconsistency exists. There are numerous policies in America that allow “public” monies to be used to fund “private” matters. Some examples of this include public funding of gender-reassignment surgery, compelling nuns to fund birth control under Obamacare, and many more. One of the biggest rhetorical questions Americans ask is, “Why am I paying for this?”
Ultimately, your question is more political than legal. The policymakers in power are the ones who determine what is publicly funded and what is not. Also, to file a suit, someone must prove they were harmed. An average taxpayer doesn’t have standing to sue because money wasn’t spent as they desired. One could sue if proof existed that the government was violating a law; however abortion is currently viewed as a “constitutional right” so this is not a possibility, either.
Finally, the pro-life movement has extremely limited resources, particularly here in Illinois. Because of this, here at Illinois Right to Life, our focus is on promoting education and providing practical resources to women facing unplanned pregnancies and young families facing financial crisis. Our long-term goal is to bring Illinois to the point where our radical, pro-abortion policies can be rolled back. At that point, the inconsistencies in the law in regards to abortion funding could then be addressed.
One of the biggest challenges I see here in our state is the number of people who are unaware of how radical Illinois’s abortion laws are. By educating citizens to the absurdity of our laws and the humanity of preborn children, we can begin affecting real change in Illinois.
Thank you again for your question!
-Amy