(WOMENSENEWS)–
Bill to Erect Statue to Memorialize Unborn Children
The South Carolina newspaper, The State, reports that the state legislature’s House Ways and Means Property Tax Subcommittee approved a bill last week to erect a monument on state grounds memorializing “unborn children who have given their lives because of legal abortion.”
The original decision included plans for 6-foot-tall statue of a fetus to be placed outside the State House, visible from a nearby street. However, many within the anti-choice movement believe that the image is too graphic and are now advocating for a more tamed-down icon: a statue of a few children at play with the inscription “what could have been, what should have been” and a call for the end of legalized abortion.
State Representative Ralph Davenport is sponsoring the measure because he believes the monument would demonstrate that “life is precious,” he said.
“It’s a gift God has given us to nurture and grow, not to destroy.”
A state-appointed panel would oversee fund-raising for the monument, which would be built entirely with private donations. The state, however, would be responsible for maintaining the monument.
Leaders from the American Civil Liberties Union have not weighed in on whether the creation of such a monument will result in any legal problems, but say the government should spend less time erecting statues and more time aiding families.
“The focus ought to be on things like better prenatal care and day care, family planning, comprehensive sex education and other services that help families,” Louise Melling, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project in New York, told The State.
The Bill to create the monument is currently pending in the South Carolina House.
For more information:
South Carolina General Assembly–115th Session, 2003-2004
Committee Report, “The South Carolina Unborn Children’s Monument Commission to erect a monument on the State House grounds as a memorial to unborn children…”:
http://www.lpitr.state.sc.us/sess115_2003-2004/prever/3188_20030424.htm
James Madison University–Student Government Association
“Emergency Contraceptives at University Health Center: The Student Response”:
http://sga.jmu.edu/
The Baltimore Sun–
“Fund-raiser for GOP pleads guilty in case of child pornography”:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.delgaudio24apr24.story
Pill Ban Gives Birth to Protest at James Madison University
The trustees at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., have ordered the campus health center to stop dispensing emergency contraceptive pills, known as morning-after pills, according to The Washington Post. The trustees are appointed by the state’s governor, Democrat Mark Warner.
Eight years ago, the health center started prescribing and dispensing the high-dose oral contraceptives that prevent pregnancy if taken 72 hours after intercourse. Students seeking the pills at the center were required to undergo counseling and were encouraged to be tested for disease.
In response to the new ban the student Senate passed a bill asking the trustees to reverse its decision. The trustees will consider the bill at its June meeting, the last of the academic year.
Republican Fund-Raiser Pleads Guilty in Case of Child Pornography
A prominent Republican fund-raiser from Burke, Va., pleaded guilty to production of child pornography, yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court, the The Baltimore Sun reported.
Richard Anthony Delgaudio received two years’ probation after admitting to taking lewd photographs of a 16-year-old girl he met in a Baltimore park in 2001. Court records indicated that in some of the photos, he was engaged in sex with the teen.
Delgaudio, 50, is president of the Legal Affairs Council, a group that helped pay the legal bills of former Reagan administration officials Oliver L. North and Caspar W. Weinberger after they faced charges in connection with the Iran-contra affair in the Reagan administration. He also is a frequent talk-radio guest and national figure in conservative politics.
The Baltimore judge excluded evidence indicating that Delgaudio took erotic images of at least one other, younger teen, because his defense persuaded the judge that the police had improperly stopped and searched Delgaudio.
The ruling, the Sun reported, was a significant factor in Delgaudio being offered the plea agreement and the relatively light sentence.
In yesterday’s ruling, Judge John M. Glynn also ordered Delgaudio to stay away from Patterson Park and the neighboring Butchers Hill area. Judge Glynn also publicly acknowledged Delgaudio’s humiliation.
“Mr. Delgaudio has been very active in the state of Virginia and around the country. He was a respected member of the community,” Glynn said. “This type of thing is a mortifying experience.”
Delgaudio was arrested in November 2001 with a book of obscene photographs he had taken of 15- and 16-year-old girls, according to court documents. The teen-agers went with him on several occasions to a hotel, where they had sex. Delgaudio paid them to pose in erotic positions for his camera, records show. The girls told Delgaudio their ages, according to police.
As part of his restitution to the community, his attorney said Delgaudio would contribute $5,000 to “young mothers who are in distress and in need.”
— Jill Filipovic.
