The religious right strikes again. If you don't think they had their hand in crafting the language of the bill that grants unborn fetuses -- at ANY stage of development -- the same rights and protections as those of us living outside the womb, there's a bridge in Brooklyn that I'd like to sell you. And then to find that old timer and plagiarist Joe Biden didn't vote for the Feinstein amendment that would have clarified this better make my blood boil. But it just would have led to a 50-50 tie that Cheney would have broken anyway...but I digress. It's the principle that counts here.

Mark my words -- the movement to outlaw abortion (r.r.) in this country took a gigantic leap forward today. I'm sorry about what happened to Laci Peterson and her unborn child. And the hundreds of other less-profiled women in places like the Bronx, East LA, Appalachia, etc. who have been killed by their husband or boyfriend. But it doesn't take much to figure out how the language of this particular piece of legislation will be used. Once the challenges to uphold the language of fetus as person begins, every abortion doctor in this country will close up shop. They won't have to outlaw it -- there won't be a doctor to be found willing to perform an abortion. And if one is willing, the risk will prove to be too great. Don't applaud this as a victory for crime victims rights. It marks the death knell of a woman's right to choose whether or not to see a pregnancy to term. You think I exaggerate? I wish I was.

Update: Here's the official text of S 1019. For the record it does exempt abortion specifically. But Feinstein's right. The descent down the slippery slope has begun. Just ask them why pro-lifers have been fighting for this bill for five years. It didn't originate with the tragic Peterson story.