The below editorial was drafted by Senator Bryant Richardson and distributed in his weekly email newsletter.
It’s a great piece and I wished to share it with you. Senator Dave Lawson
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On Tuesday of last week, I requested a suspension of rules to allow Senate Bill 108 (Women’s Right to Know Ultrasound Act) to be heard on the floor of the Senate.
And as I predicted, this request was challenged, forcing a vote on whether or not to allow the bill to be heard.
All but one Republican Senator voted with me to allow the suspension of rules.
All the Democrat senators voted no.
I devoted much of my time this year to providing a convincing argument for the passage of a bill that would give women all the information they needed before deciding on whether or not to have an abortion.
The courts have ruled that, “True consent to what happens to oneself is the exercise of a choice, and that entails an opportunity to evaluate knowledgeably the options available and the risks attendant upon each.”
Additionally the courts have said, “Since patients must bear the expense, pain and suffering of any injury from medical treatment, their rights to know all material facts pertaining to the proposed treatment cannot be dependent upon the ‘self-imposed standards’ of the medical profession.”
When the courts have even said that complications occurring only 1% of the time must be disclosed, to me it is obvious that the Women’s Right to Know Ultrasound Act would withstand a legal challenge.
In last week’s column, I detailed what I would be saying under a “special privilege of the floor” request. As I was reading that script, Senator Brian Townsend interrupted me to say, in so many words, that he had heard enough.
Lt. Governor Bethany Hall Long allowed me to finish. When I followed up by asking for a suspension of rules to hear SB 108, Townsend challenged the request forcing the vote that failed to allow for the suspension.
On Wednesday I requested another special privilege of the floor. Lt. Gov. Hall Long asked if this was my annual appeal against abortion.
That is what I had been working on for about a month, but instead of giving that talk, I gave the following much shorter speech.
I come to my service with a Christian Worldview.
What is this World view?
I believe that the role of all Christians is to influence society for good. I also believe that anything we do in an attempt to persuade others must be done through an attitude of love, of wanting to do what is right for others (1st Corinthians 13).
I care deeply about issues that affect the welfare of women. I DO NOT want to make it difficult for women.
How do I respect women?
Ask my wife of 53 years.
Ask my daughter.
Ask my two granddaughters.
Ask the many women I have worked with over my career.
In a previous end-of-session speech I talked about a photo that was taken on August 19, 1999 showing a child at 21 weeks gestation grasping the finger of surgeon Joseph Bruner.
Dr. Bruner was operating in utero to correct a problem with spina bifida when the infant reached through the incision and firmly grasped his finger.
The operation was successful and on December 2, 1999, Samuel Alexander Armas was born in perfect health. Samuel is now 21 years old.
Dr. Bruner said in an interview that this was the most emotional moment of his life and that for an instant he was not able to move.
My belief is this: We honor God by honoring His Creation. We dishonor God when we fail to protect His Creation.
Legislators who do not recognize the importance of protecting the unborn are on the wrong side of history.
