Former Republican Leader and Speaker Pro Tempore, Paul "Skip" Stam, wrote the following op-ed . The following photos are rights of the Christian Action League of North Carolina.
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Since June 24, 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, there has been lots of commentary by politicians and reporters. How can you tell if you are receiving propaganda instead of reasoned debate or discussion?
If there is no mention of the child at all, not even mention of a “fetus” or “embryo.” If there is no photo of the unborn child, or even a written description of her or his appearance or function so you can guess what you are reading about, that is propaganda. The DNA of the baby is distinct from her parents at fertilization. The embryo is distinctly human in appearance. The heart is beating at six weeks and the brain is working by the 8th week.
If they refer to a “ban,” (it rhymes with “Taliban”) and means a total prohibition, it is propaganda. Theoretically a ban is possible but I have never seen one. The life of the mother is implied in law even when not expressed. Most statutes have other exceptions or definitions that operate as exception. Senator Lindsay Graham’s bill only protected about 7% of unborn children with 4 specific exceptions yet it was called a “nationwide ban.” That is propaganda.
Unborn child at 13 weeks
If the unborn child is called a “fetus” or “embryo” that might be propaganda. Abortionists realize that “fetus” is a proper medical term for an unborn child larger than an embryo. Fetus is literally “offspring” or “progeny”. (And the feminine is parva fetus.) If they want to use Latin to dehumanize the child, then the equivalent correct medical term for the mother is “gravida.” There is no masculine equivalent, despite the wild imaginations of those who refer to “pregnant people” rather than “pregnant women.” “To imply that an unborn child is not a “child but a fetus or an embryo” is logically analogous to saying that she not a child, she is a “newborn” or a “toddler.” In other words, “fetus,” like “toddler,” designates a specific phase of the general state of “childhood.”
In USA Today I read a full page article on abortion. It never mentioned the child but constantly referred to “abortion care.” Pure propaganda. “Abortion” is to “care” as “armed robbery” is to a bank. In 99.999% of all abortions, an individual living human being dies. How can that be any kind of “care.”
If politicians state that the U.S. Supreme Court took away a constitutional right after 49 ½ years, that is propaganda. Justice Alito took great pains to show there never was a constitutional right to abortion. Ask a 5th grader to find that right in the Constitution. In about five minutes she will tell you it is not there. It never was, except in the fevered imaginations of seven old men with robes, who are now dead.
Unborn child at 17 weeks
In her October 5 debate Justice Beasley asserted that late term abortions after 15 weeks were only considered for life threatening emergencies and that life saving care was needed to prevent the death of women in cases such as ectopic pregnancies and medical care after a miscarriage (a spontaneous abortion). This is propaganda. Do it yourself abortions (pills by mail) are themselves life threatening. Without an actual examination and an ultrasound there is no way to rule out an ectopic pregnancy. The liberal excuses for DIY abortions is PROPAGANDA. The unborn child cannot survive an ectopic pregnancy. If not resolved by about the 12th week the child will die and the mother will be in serious danger. Removal of the child in an ectopic pregnancy has never been considered illegal, immoral or unethical. Treatment after a miscarriage is not even an abortion. The suggestion that either of these actions will be illegal is propaganda.