The distillation of our times

The Right Wing has apparently adopted a spin on Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" campaign tailored for the clinically depressed - we can make it even worse.

On 23 December 2010 Shuai became so depressed after she had been abandoned by her boyfriend – a married Chinese man who broke his promise to set up a family with her – that she decided to end her life. She consumed rat poison, and after confessing to friends was rushed to the Methodist hospital...

Doctors took steps to save her, but on 31 December there were signs that the baby, then at 33 weeks gestation, was in distress and a Caesarian was performed. On the second day of Angel's life the baby was found to have a massive brain haemorrhage and on 2 January was taken off life support.

Shuai held Angel for five hours as the baby gradually faded and died. "Why do they want to take my baby away?" she kept asking, in between bouts of fainting. Shuai begged for her own life to be taken so that her child's might be spared.

Like many states, Indiana long ago passed a feticide law aimed at protecting pregnant women from physical abuse by violent men. Now we have gone to the point where these laws, in the hands of conservative right-to-lifers can criminally charge women for having a bad ending to a pregancy. If one thinks Ms. Shuai acted badly remember the law as applied here doesn't just go after those who are suiciidally depressed -- what of the woman who smokes or eats poorly and has a stillborn child? Or maybe we'll just push on to a system when every poor birth outcome is a potential felony -- aimed against the offending/unfortunate woman.

If you can pair it up with a country that doesn't allow contraceptives or the criminal prosecution of priests you'll have Cardinal Dolan's heaven-on-earth.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]