# Small government advocate wants police to harass distraught women **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 22, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176 "2011-02-22T01:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/1 "2011-02-22T01:36:32Z")
Bobby Franklin of Georgia has said all gay people are drug dealers, wants to do away with drivers licenses, wants to make it policy to imply all rape victims are liars, and has quickly risen in the ranks of batshittery and made a name for himself in a short amount of time. When a reporter asked him his age, he accused the reporter of trying to steal his identity. He wants to return to an all-metal monetary system. He says the U.S. has secretly gone communist, opposed a ban on dog fighting because Jesus wouldn’t have supported it, and wants to ban property taxes. Hysterically pro-life, he has cited “my body, my rights” when opposing vaccinations. But he was just warming up. > **[Care2 is the world's largest social network for good, a community of over 40...](https://www.care2.com/)** > > Largest online community empowering people to lead a healthy and green lifestyle while taking action on important causes such as human rights, animal welfare and global warming. Having been through a miscarriage, all I can say is that if a police officer came to “investigate,” while I was consoling my wife in those horrible days I do not want to think about what would have happened. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/2 "2011-02-22T02:27:52Z")
Sometimes I wonder if shmucks like this guy are just made up to make other pro-lifers seem sane in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/3 "2011-02-22T02:33:05Z")
Oh, I always LOVE how “small government advocates” are always willing to have The Gummint intrude into people’s lives when it’s an issue that THEY feel strongly about. Here in Texas, some of these idjits are trying to force through a bill that would require all women who are trying to get an abortion to get a sonogram, listen to the heartbeat (if any) and listen to a doctor describe all sorts of stuff. Now I wonder who’s gonna pay for all that? We’re having a financial crisis in this state, but somehow THIS bill was a priority. Oh, and the movie industry bureau, it’s essential that we fund one, because, you know, we’re cutting all sorts of things from the budget, but we need THAT. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/4 "2011-02-22T02:34:51Z")
From the link: > [@](#): > > Franklin wants to create a Uterus Police to investigate miscarriages, and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. If the cause of death is unknown, it must be investigated. If the woman can’t tell how it happened, than those Uterus Police can ask family members and friends how it happened. Hospitals are required to keep records of anyone who has a spontaneous abortion and report it. Yup, we’ve been waiting for someone to suggest this–and Franklin has. Needless to say, there are no exceptions allowed. Not for rape victims. Not for incest victims. Not to save the life and health of the mother (the fetus must get equal care). As dumb as I think this is, there’s no denying that it follows very logically from the hard-line anti-abortion position. If you believe that an embryo or fetus at any stage of development has the same legal personhood and basic rights as a post-birth infant, then you have to treat any injury or death in the case of a fetus the same way you would in the case of an infant, insofar as it’s physically possible. Yes, it’s incredibly invasive and highly vulnerable to abuse. To my mind, that’s just another reason for rejecting the absolutist right-to-life position that full personhood and legal rights are attained at the moment of conception, rather than developing gradually with other forms of development during pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/5 "2011-02-22T02:35:28Z")
Yeesh. When does he propose his bill requiring that all coitus be conducted in the presence of a referee, to ensure that no condoms are used? ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/6 "2011-02-22T02:42:09Z")
As someone who has literally sat in an OB’s office crying my eyes out as the ultrasound tech told me he could not find the heartbeat anymore and I needed a d&c . . . I’d like to bang his head against a wall. The Reps need to let go of their embryo fetish and concentrate on the needs of people instead. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/7 "2011-02-22T02:45:29Z")
“Small government advocate”? That’s like calling Charles Manson a rock musician or Adolf Hitler an author. Sure each of them dabbled in those things, but they are more famous for other stuff. And the particular complaint you have about him in this thread has nothing to do with advocating a small government. The way you idiots here use the word “conservative” (i.e., with no regard for whether you are talking about a fiscal or social conservative) is bad enough–this thread title takes that problem up a couple orders of magnitude. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/8 "2011-02-22T02:53:00Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > If you believe that an embryo or fetus at any stage of development has the same legal personhood and basic rights as a post-birth infant, then you have to treat any injury or death in the case of a fetus the same way you would in the case of an infant, insofar as it’s physically possible. Oh, the news headlines we can look forward to… " Woman expels thick tissue during menstruation, charged with homicide. " :dubious: Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/9 "2011-02-22T02:57:58Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Oh, I always LOVE how “small government advocates” are always willing to have The Gummint intrude into people’s lives when it’s an issue that THEY feel strongly about. Lynn, you are such a fucking idiot. I’m a small government advocate, and I don’t want the government to intrude in anyone’s life. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/10 "2011-02-22T03:01:36Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > “Small government advocate”? That’s like calling Charles Manson a rock musician or Adolf Hitler an author. Sure each of them dabbled in those things, but they are more famous for other stuff. And the particular complaint you have about him in this thread has nothing to do with advocating a small government. > > The way you idiots here use the word “conservative” (i.e., with no regard for whether you are talking about a fiscal or social conservative) is bad enough–this thread title takes that problem up a couple orders of magnitude. Oh, I’m aware of the irony, but these tea party types claim to want small government. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/11 "2011-02-22T03:03:15Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Oh, I’m aware of the irony, but these tea party types claim to want small government. Yeah? So what? I claim to want small government (because I do). If I go shoot up a liquor store and then rape some cats, do you think it would make sense if someone started a thread saying “Small government advocate shoots up liquor store and rapes cats”? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/12 "2011-02-22T03:04:48Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yeah? So what? > > I claim to want small government (because I do). If I go shoot up a liquor store and then rape some cats, do you think it would make sense if someone started a thread saying “Small government advocate shoots up liquor store and rapes cats”? I would start that thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/13 "2011-02-22T03:05:40Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yeah? So what? > > I claim to want small government (because I do). If I go shoot up a liquor store and then rape some cats, do you think it would make sense if someone started a thread saying “Small government advocate shoots up liquor store and rapes cats”? Er, no, but if you got elected to office and proceeded to propose enormously invasive government policy, then I would observe that you were a small government advocate proposing invasive government policy. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/14 "2011-02-22T03:08:59Z")
Perhaps you saw an “s” in the thread title that wasn’t there? I dunno what your problem is. I didn’t make any statements that weren’t specifically about Franklin. I didn’t suppose that his bill, which was co-sponsored by three other Republicans, is indicative of a widespread Republican hypocrisy on the small government/get all up in your uterus front. I think that would be unprincipled, given the passionate defense of abortion rights by most Republican legislators. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/15 "2011-02-22T03:17:45Z")
OK, hold the phone, I think I see what your major malfunction may be. You see a small government advocate advocating something that would increase government activity (because his policy would cause more work for the police). But that policy isn’t against the principles of small government. The idea of wanting a small government is about limiting the activities of government to only certain things. Enforcing laws is pretty much the most basic thing that any small government advocate definitely wants the government to do (that and fight wars). So, this guy’s policy doesn’t violate principles of small government (i.e., by advocating government activity outside its limited roles), he’s just saying that the death of a fetus (and that may not be the right word–embryo, maybe?) should be treated like the death of a full-fledged human (i.e., with an investigation into its cause). You can think that’s a stupid policy if you want to (I do), but it’s not violative of standard small government principles. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/16 "2011-02-22T03:18:53Z")
> [@tnetennba](#): > > Perhaps you saw an “s” in the thread title that wasn’t there? I dunno what your problem is. I didn’t make any statements that weren’t specifically about Franklin. I didn’t suppose that his bill, which was co-sponsored by three other Republicans, is indicative of a widespread Republican hypocrisy on the small government/get all up in your uterus front. I think that would be unprincipled, given the passionate defense of abortion rights by most Republican legislators. So if Obama wanted to do X, and I started a thread saying “Black man wants to do x,” you wouldn’t be :dubious: in the least? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/17 "2011-02-22T03:25:11Z")
You are not worth arguing with. Have a pleasant evening. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/18 "2011-02-22T03:39:06Z")
I have never met an honest small government advocate. So far, they all seem to be conservatives in disguise ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/19 "2011-02-22T03:49:24Z")
If it could be reliably said that “small government” means “fewer Bobby Franklins in Government”, then yeah, put me down for that. > [@](#): > > …Uterus Police… Band name. There, I said it. > [@](#): > > …and requires that any time a miscarriage occurs, whether in a hospital or without medical assistance, it must be reported and a fetal death certificate issued. Well, there’s something crying out to to hung on the wall in a nice frame, innit? ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176/20 "2011-02-22T03:49:30Z")
It’s not much of a disguise, actually. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-government-advocate-wants-police-to-harass-distraught-women/572176.md?page=2)