Tina Dupuy

Being a teenager sucks. It’s a brief moment in your life where you have all the physical ability of an adult and the legal status of a 2-year-old. Constitutional rights don’t apply to minors in this country. Right to bear arms? Right to vote? Right against unwarranted search and seizures? Right to a speedy trial? Nope. There are laws for minors, but they are not in the Constitution. There is a movement in this country to give constitutional rights to fetuses? I say – aim lower – start with 16-year-olds.

Proposition 73 wants to amend the constitution of California so that doctors must notify the parents of girls under the age of 18 before performing an abortion. This would give an already legally impotent group of people – even fewer rights by implementing the same red tape that exists for a school field trip.

Both pro and con on this issue claim to be for the safety of teens. The argument for the amendment says that already over 30 states have similar laws in effect. Safety? I’ll buy that. But the idea of, “Well, they do it like this in Alabama.” is not a good selling point.

The million signatures the proponents boast to have gathered are understandable. The feeling is, “I don’t like abortions, and I especially don’t like the idea of teenagers having sex – where do I sign?”

I don’t like abortions, either. Who LIKES abortions? Liking an abortion is like LOVING a root canal. It’s not pretty. Actually it’s pretty gross to think about. But thank God no one has tried to make root canals illegal on the grounds of their being gross to think about.

I also don’t like the idea of young kids having sex. That’s why I don’t watch the WB! I would tell any teenager who would listen (yeah right) that they should stop imitating Paris Hilton, read a book and stop kicking the back of my seat at the movie theater. If you could put all that on a ballot – you’d get my vote. Otherwise, teenagers are going to have sex regardless of the tally.

But this proposition claims its ‘for our daughters’ safety, health and protection’. Really? How are those three things going to be accomplished by permission slips? If this measure passes, the girls could still bypass their parents being notified by going to a judge. So, what is this about?

It’s really about what Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wrote in their book Freakonomics: “For certain types of misbehavior, social incentives are terribly powerful. In an echo of Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter, many American cities now fight prostitution with a “shaming” offensive, posting convicted johns (and prostitutes) on websites and local-access television.”

Proposition 73 is a shaming offensive. Don’t have sex because you’ll get pregnant and if you get pregnant you will either have to go to your parents or a judge and then everyone will know what you did.

I know some of you are thinking, “Good. Being a young girl and getting an abortion is nothing to be proud of.” To you I ask: Who is ever proud of getting an abortion? And why does being under 18 make public humiliation not only acceptable but necessary and appropriate?

My main problem with this tactic is that it makes pregnancy a punishment and bureaucracy a consequence. All before you get to ENJOY some of the freedoms we fought so hard to have in this country: like drinking, smoking, gambling, owning a gun and SIGNING petitions to annoy teenagers.

And the shame and punishment belong only to the girl in the situation. I would be more likely to support this initiative if there were a notification to the father’s parents, too. “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Congratulations. It seems your 25-year-old son was trolling the high school again. You’re being notified that he got one pregnant. Please deal with him accordingly.”

Unlike other initiatives for this special election, (i.e., teachers, public employees and seniors) the people this law effects most can’t vote on it. Aside from the moral issues raised by abortion, this amendment is cruel and unusual punishment for a small minority of the population. And yes, they do need protecting. They should be protected from Proposition 73.

Let’s face it, ever since science started trolling the churches, kidnapping God-fearing folk and brainwashing them with their ‘theories’ – they’ve gained momentum as a group. They have gotten their agenda passed through the courts – their doctrine is now taught in schools and their followers are regularly shown on PBS.

This powerful lobby is single handedly responsible for us ALL having to needlessly learn algebra. The monsters!

I ask – what has science really done for this country? Where was SCIENCE when the towers fell? Did science find WMDs in Iraq? NO. Did SCIENCE ever find a connection between Osama and Iraq? NO. Has SCIENCE made us safer? Well, they would like us to THINK that, wouldn’t they?

Science hasn’t done anything for the public good. Did SCIENCE show up and feed Katrina victims? No, they weren’t there. Has science ever resolved conflict? No. No, they’ve left that burden to the courts! Has science ever consoled the grieving? No, that’s for our under-funded churches to attend to.

It’s disgusting. Scientists want us to believe that sex isn’t dirty! Even pre-marital sex! Even the kind you PAY for – they claim is it ‘natural’. This code word ‘natural’ has been used in place of the more commonly known word ’sinful’. It’s all a part of their attempt to equate humans with some kind of filthy animal. Namely monkeys. Science is calling our families – our children- monkeys!

Science is immoral. It is indecent. It is obscene. It is rife with perversion. It is obsessed with the abnormal. It has no respect for the dead. It objectifies women. It arrogantly refutes most of the bible. It’s at war with traditional values! The only VALUE science holds is for more SCIENCE! It propagates LIES and muddies the truth for our families – for our children! It’s a corrosion of our culture – of our way of life.

What kind of group wants to play God and disprove His existence at the SAME TIME?!? That’s right. They’re worse than the ACLU!

How many good moral people must fall victim to scientific proof before it is stopped?

There are elected officials – right now – sitting in Washington DC – that BELIEVE in science! That’s right. Off the record, they would swear by it. These beliefs influence every decision made by them. It’s time to weed out the renegades. It’s time to call for a separation of State and Science!

If science is so great – then let the Japanese KEEP it. It’s un-American. It’s anti-American. It’s the opposite of everything we stand for. And we’re not going to stand for it anymore!

Published: August 31, 2005
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA (Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project) dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security — coming at the same time as federal tax cuts — was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.

No, you know who anticipate stuff like that? The Dutch – those liberal morons – with their anti-war policies – gay marriage – legal drugs, legal prostitution, low crime rate and successful dikes and levees. It’s disgusting. We don’t want to be anything like them.

Congress had an emergency session to deal with this crisis.

Yes, the crisis HAS reached Terri Schiavo level.

Life is precious. We want to preserve our culture of life.

Wait – wait Mr. President, we shouldn’t politicize this tragedy yet. Save it for next week’s photo op.