Last week, two dozen men in Alabama declared that a doctor who ends the pregnancy of a 12-year-old rape victim should spend more time in prison than the rapist who impregnates her.
On Wednesday, Gov. Kay Ivey signed their bill into law, proclaiming it a testament to their belief that “every life is precious [and] that every life is a sacred gift from God."
About that sacred gift: Alabama has the worst education system, the second-highest infant mortality rate and the fifth-highest child poverty rate in the country. Half of the state's counties have no obstetrician. And, of course, the state has refused to expand Medicaid.
This wouldn’t be fodder for a commentary on local events, had not Florida state Sen. Dennis Baxley said last week on South Florida public radio station WLRN that he’s “very encouraged” by Alabama’s new law.
What else would you expect from a guy who in 2019 raised a bill to require schools to teach “alternative views” on scientific concepts like climate change, another to require parental consent for minors seeking abortions, and a third to ban abortion after the so called fetal heartbeat can be detected.
Baxley is, of course, also the man who wrote the Stand Your Ground Law. He also opposes Medicaid expansion, the lack of which contributes to Florida’s high rate of maternal mortality.
Like a new car when it leaves the lot, it seems that for these lawmakers, life becomes a lot less valuable the second it slips out of the birth canal.