title:  Republicans Are Trying To Legislate How We Grieve
text: Republicans are repulsive people. This is a known fact. But the latest attempt in Indiana to legislate how we mourn takes it to a whole new level:The law says that  a miscarried or aborted fetus must be interred or cremated by a facility having possession of the remains,  and requires  a person or facility having possession of a miscarried or aborted fetus to ensure that the miscarried fetus or aborted fetus is preserved until final disposition occurs. It doesn t matter how far along the pregnancy is. Normally when a pregnancy ends earlier than 20 weeks, the  products of conception  (fetal tissue and the placenta) are treated like any other medical waste. After 20 weeks, the fetus is considered a  stillbirth  and the parents typically have the option to cremate or bury it if they choose.So even if a woman has a miscarriage at 8 weeks of pregnancy at home, under this law she could be required to keep the blood and tissue, take it to a hospital, and have it buried or cremated by a funeral home.Several other states have also passed similar laws (care to guess what color they are on the electoral map?).But why do this?For the last several years, I ve asked pro- life  proponents who insist that fertilized eggs and zygotes and fetuses are fully realized people a very basic question: If this is the case, why is it that no culture on the planet hold funerals for miscarriages or abortions?No one has been able to offer a coherent answer and for good reason: No one has a funeral for a miscarriage because miscarriages are not people.So Republicans are trying to redefine how we view miscarriages. They want us to consider them the moral and legal equivalent of the death of a child. Even if the  child  in this case is an 8-week-old microscopic collection of cells.Let that sink in for a moment: Republicans, the party of  small government,  are literally telling you how to grieve. I can t imagine a more intrusive abuse of government short of prima nocta.Sort of. 2006 was a rough year and my wife and I suffered two miscarriages. We buried the sonograms of two lost pregnancies, planted a tree and set up a plaque:You d think that I would be proof that miscarriages are people worthy of mourning. But you d be very wrong. We were not mourning a lost child, we were mourning the lost possibilities. I have three children now and I can tell you without reservation that I would rather face 1000 miscarriages than lose one of them. There simply is no comparison.Anyone that claims they would be just as hurt by the loss of a fetus as they would a child they held in their arms is, at best, a liar and at worst, a monster that thinks very little of their children.That Republicans would try to further traumatize women by legislating their grief is a reflection of how cruel and debased the party has become.Featured image via simplyoloni.com