Cross-posted at Liberal South and My Left Wing.
Finally getting back to this - I intended to yesterday, but got a bit wrapped up in researching vote history for our esteemed legislature here in the beautiful Magnolia state.
On Wednesday, I made a trip to the state Capitol in Jackson, to try to hunt down the Representatives involved with SB 2922 and explain my position to them. It was my goal to try to understand their reasoning with this bill - the history is so convoluted. Since I barely get it, even now, I'll do my best to explain it to you...
It was born as an intolerable chipping away of Roe (in the guise of an extension of the state's already outrageous "informed consent" laws) by the Senate, and changed by Rep. S. Holland (D-Lee Co.) to an outright ban on abortion, providing an exemption only for the life of the mother. The House passed the newly-worded bill, after adding exceptions for rape and incest, although with some qualifiers. Victims of rape or incest would be required to report the incident within twenty days in order to qualify for an abortion on those grounds. Many victims will tel you that this qualifier is unworkable, as so many rapes and incidents of incest go unreported for many years, and the consequences of reporting vary from situation to situation.
Still, this is the bill that passed, and by a wide margin - twenty some-odd against. Quite a few who voted against did so because it wasn't strict enough - how's that grab you? Rep. Alyce Clarke was not one of those - she's on our side, and how. She is a very cool and beautiful lady who sat down with us when we were intervied by the Observer (that interview should come out sometime this week). She, at least, realizes that women's bodies are not pawns to be moved about on the political chessboard, or to be set up and possibly sacrificed in a political strategy for votes.
At the eleventh hour, after dodging the Senators on the conference committee for several days, Reps. Holland, Moak, and Fredericks walked in fifteen minutes before the deadline on Monday evening with... a new bill? Yes indeedy, friends and neighbors, Holland presented Senators Nunnelee, Hyde-Smith, and Frazier with SB 2922, Viii. As they say in India, same same, but different. It did not reinstate the language of the original bill, as Nunnelee wished, but added sections 5 and 6, which essentially changed the bill from a ban effective immeee....
Sorry - got distracted. Al Franken show is streaming on Air America, and there are Simpson's voices, courtesy of Harry Shear. Chuckle.
Okay, where was I? Oh yeah. The new wording in sections five and six of SB 2922 changed it from a ban effective immediately to a "trigger law", effective when the SCOTUS overturns Roe. What is a trigger law? you may well ask. Well, these laws basically come into effect when a state has not repealed pre-Roe laws that remain on the books, or have not enacted later laws that supersede this pre-Roe legislation. Several states already have such laws, including Louisiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and Arkansas*. Other states in which women's rights are at risk if Roe is struck down are Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Utah, Ohio, and West Virginia. Tennessee's legislature is talking about a ban right now, from what I understand.
*(Arkansas' trigger law is dubious)
Here in Mississippi, this bothers us a little bit. Here we are, smack dab in the middle of Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, with the Gulf at our backs.
I cannot possibly express my relief on Monday night when 2922 died in committee. I hid in a corner at the Capitol and did my patented happy-dance. When I got an email on Tuesday saying that the bill had been revived, I wept. I cried and snotted and raged all over my laptop, then looked up Fillingane, the Rep. who revived the bill. He's basically a twerp who thinks he knows something - send him some hate mail. If you can't stomach hate-mail, maybe just really-don't-like-mail would do.
After feeling sorry for myself and everybody else all day Tuesday (see, I'm not selfish), on Wednesday I thought I'd try to get positive and be a little more productive. As I said, I drove to the Capitol, and hunted for the key players. I had the great good luck of running into Rep. Bobby Moak in the rotunda. He seemed to be in mid-conversation, so I didn't interrupt, but gave him significant looks until he walked over and introduced himself. I looked like the Pro-Choice Button Queen, so I imagine there was little doubt regarding what I wanted to talk about. The anti-choice people have been ambushing guys on the way to the bathroom, and butting into every conversation they can, so he probably didn't mind coming to speak to someone who was willing to wait. When I asked him about SB 2922, he asked me if I had been at the conference meeting, and then intimated that the situation was staged (duh). They walked in with no intention of letting anything be signed before the deadline. When I mentioned the trigger law, Rep. Moak seemed to not realize the significance of it. The Senate would not have signed the ban, and the House was aware of this, and could have left it at that. However, the House, for political reasons, consulted the Right to Life Foundation, and changed it to a trigger law.
The upshot of this? Well, now, the Senate is a smidgen more likely to pass it (although it's still pretty unlikely - Nunnelee really wants his sonogram/heartbeat requirement), and there is a whole lot less we can do about it if it is passed. A ban we can fight - it is unconstitutional, and would eventually be struck down by the SCOTUS. We could campign against it on a "wasting tax dollars" theme. We could point out the criminality of the reporting restrictions for rape and incest. Hell, we can even argue about criminalization of the doctor versus criminalization of the woman. But a trigger law - that may not happen for years. The House's argument on this was that abortion would inevitably be made illegal in Mississipp as soon as Roe is overturned - they didn't seem to understand that this kind of law takes the ball out of our court and puts the advantage squarely in the anti-choice faction's hands.
I spoke to Rep. S. Holland for about an hour, sitting with him in his office as he smoked a cigar and listened to the vote to override Barbour's veto of the tobacco tax (it failed). When Rep. Holland had to answer the phone, I indulged in interesting conversation with Rep. Eaton regarding religion. Holland seemed very much on our side, but he , too, seemed unaware of the significance of trigger laws - he didn't even know Louisiana had one. He said they'd have to "hog-tie (his) ass and drag (him) into conference" to vote on anything. Moak said essentially the same same thing. These guys signed their bill, which is bad enough, and as far as they are concerned the issue is done. The way they see it, they were attempting to call the Senate's bluff. The trigger law was a ploy to make it more acceptable to their conservative constituency and republican House members. I don't like it, but there it is. The way it looks now, the Senate won't even sign that.
Nunnelee wants his sonogram provision so bad he can taste it. He wants the committee to meet again so he can slide that language back in the bill. Holland isn't having it. He said he finds these attempts to peck Roe to death "personally offensive", - shit or get off the pot is his theory. Therefore, the ban, which there is no way the Senate will sign. They are not ready to second-guess the SCOTUS.
So, what will happen? It won't go to conferenc committee again - if it does, both Holland and Moak have my number. Senator Frazier and Rep. Fredericks have promised to call the MSACLU, so at least we'll have some warning. I think everyone is attempting to act in good faith.
But Politics is Politics, forever and ever, rAMEN. And until we have a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Equal Rights for women (we do make up the majority now, don'cha'know), I will not trust my politicians to act in my best interest, no matter what they say. Even when that glorious day comes, I think I'll take 'em with a grain of salt.
UPDATE According to the Clarion Ledger the session is over, so this bill is finally officially dead. (Until next time, mwaah-haa-haah!)