South Dakota became the first state where legislation was put forward that could potentially have classified the murder of doctors or others involved in assisting or abetting abortion procedures as permissible under the legal classification of “justifiable homicide.”
Now, after South Dakota lawmakers shot down their own measure, other Midwestern states are picking up the idea.
Nebraska state Sen. Mark Christensen (R) has introduced a bill that would mimic the idea of “justifiable homicide” against anyone that “threatens” an unborn child, but it would also expand on the shelved South Dakota law by granting the right of “justifiable homicide” to any “third party” and not just the immediate family of the “threatened” woman and her fetus.
The details of the proposed law are extreme. It would potentially allow “vigilante” groups of anti-abortion extremists carry out “justifiable homicide” on anyone they perceived to be performing abortions or supporting a woman’s right to an abortion.
The legislation, LB 232, was introduced by state Sen. Mark Christensen, a devout Christian and die-hard abortion foe who is opposed to the procedure even in the case of rape. Unlike its South Dakota counterpart, which would have allowed only a pregnant woman, her husband, her parents, or her children to commit “justifiable homicide” in defense of her fetus, the Nebraska bill would apply to any third party.
“In short, this bill authorizes and protects vigilantes, and that’s something that’s unprecedented in our society,” Melissa Grant of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland told the Nebraska legislature’s judiciary committee on Wednesday. Specifically, she warned, it could be used to target Planned Parenthood’s patients and personnel. Also testifying in opposition to the bill was David Baker, the deputy chief executive officer of the Omaha police department, who said, “We share the same fears…that this could be used to incite violence against abortion providers.”
And Nebraska isn’t alone in exploring loopholes that would legalize violence against abortion doctors.
The Iowa legislature is considering two bills that would formally recognize that “life” starts at the moment of conception and provide unprecedented protections for state residents that use “deadly force” if they or a third party are “threatened.”
If the first bill is approved, that “third party” could be a fetus, and “deadly force” against abortion providers would be permitted and protected under Iowa law.
Two bills sponsored by Iowa House Republicans could have significant public safety consequences, and perhaps the most unnerving of those potential outcomes would be the justifiable use of deadly force against abortion or family planning providers.
When the two pieces of legislation are combined they create a situation where a fertilized egg would be considered a person, and allow for the public execution of those who would threaten such a person.
If passed into law, the two bills — House File 7 and House File 153 — would offer an unprecedented defense opportunity to individuals who stand accused of killing such providers, according to a former prosecutor and law professor at the University of Kansas, and are something that might have very well led to a different outcome in the Kansas trial of the man who shot Dr. George Tiller in a church foyer.
Melanie D. Wilson, associate professor of law at the University of Kansas, closely followed the trial of Scott Roeder, the man convicted of murdering Tiller. Roeder, at the urging of Iowa anti-abortion activist and former GOP legislative candidate Dave Leach, attempted to use the necessity defense, which says it is permissible to commit a crime if it stops a greater harm. The judge in the case refused to allow Roeder to use that defense.
“When [Roeder] presented the necessity defense, he failed because the legislature had basically already decided the abortion issue,” Wilson said. “So, as long as Tiller was performing legal abortion, [Roeder], as a defendant, didn’t get to re-decide the case [of abortion's legal status]. Just as a matter of law, the judge wouldn’t allow that argument.”
Currently, abortion is also settled law in Iowa. But House File 153, sponsored by 28 Republicans, challenges it. Under that bill, the state would be mandated to recognize and protect “life” from the moment of conception until “natural death” with the full force of the law and state and federal constitutions. Essentially, the bill declares that from the moment a male sperm and a female ovum join to create a fertilized egg that a person exists.
House File 7, which has been sponsored by 29 GOP House members, seeks to expand state law regarding use of reasonable force, including deadly force. Current state laws provide that citizens are not required to retreat from their dwelling or place of business if they or a third party are threatened. The proposal would significantly expand this to state that citizens are not required to retreat from “any place at which the person has a right to be present,” and that in such instances, the citizen has the right to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect himself or a third party from serious injury or death or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
Also included in the proposal is a new section to the Iowa Code that would provide automatic criminal and civil immunity to a person who uses deadly force, unless a police investigation proves that the person was not acting “reasonably.” Also key to the immunity clause is the fact that law enforcement would likely be barred from arresting a person at the scene of an incident “unless the law enforcement agency determines there is probable cause that the force was unlawful under this chapter.” If law enforcement does make an arrest, and if that person is later found to have used reasonable force by a court of law, taxpayers could be on the hook for the reimbursement of the person’s attorney fees, court costs, compensation from loss of income and other expenses.
Where are the feds, These lawmakers are inciting and being complicit to murder! Which is against the law! These fucking morons need to arrested and brought up on charges! Now less see who has the balls to do so!
They’re making abortionist killing fair game now, huh? The Fetus Rights Movement marches on, giving a retroactive thumbs-up to Scott Roeder and the other fanatics who kill the living to protect innocent non-sentient pre-humans. God’s work, I’m sure.
Why is HuffPo still on the blogroll list here?