The economy is falling apart around our ears. Georgia’s high school graduation rate ranks 49th. But what does state Senator Ralph Hudgens (R-Athens) think the most pressing issue for the state is? Preventing a woman from ‘overdoing’ in-vitro fertilization.
The Senator is responding to the birth of octuplets in January. Nadya Suleman of California gave birth to eight babies after an IVF procedure implanted six viable embryos. Hudgens is one of the busybodies outraged that the California woman is unmarried, already had six children, and is on government assistance.
Concerned about something that has never happened in Georgia and has occurred only one time in the entire world, Senator Hudgens dropped SB-169,“The Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act,”(http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/sb169.htm) to limit the number of embryos that could be implanted in an IVF procedure. The bill would cap the number at two for women under the age of 40, and three for those over.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia really doesn’t care how many kids you have, although we believe it is your job to support them without government assistance. There are few things as personal as the decision to have or not have children. It is our position that no level of government has any business interfering in private family planning choices.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia is appalled by Senator Hudgens’ authoritarian effort to make Georgia’s women behave the way he thinks they should, and we call out his Senate co-sponsors Tommie Williams, Chip Rogers, Don Thomas, David Shafer, and Don Balfour. We believe the legislature’s drive to micromanage our lives is totalitarian and must be resisted by freedom loving citizens everywhere.
Senator Hudgens says his concern comes from the fact that the octomom is on the government dole, and that citizens should not have to pay to support Ms. Suleman’s 14 children. That is to say, he thinks the fact that government offers welfare is reason enough to limit citizen freedom.
In contrast, The Libertarian Party of Georgia platform calls for the protection of families “against government intrusion and interference…Moreover, we condemn the usurpation by government through…welfare programs…of activities long carried on by families.”
Libertarians think citizens should not have to pay to support any children, and therefore government has no interest in meddling on the topic. Reproduction is too personal to allow the government to decide how many kids you can have.
At the state and national level, politicians think they are smarter than we are about our own lives. They demonstrate every day that the definition of politics is “the fight to control the coercive power of government to make everyone else live the way you think they should.” The Libertarian viewpoint is radically different; we believe you should make up your own mind and lead your life in the way that brings you the most happiness, so long as it does not infringe on the rights of others.
No matter what smiley fact they try to put on it, the political parties in control now believe in benevolent dictatorship. Libertarians believe in your individual freedom. The difference could not be more stark.
We look forward to the legislative failure of Senator Hudgen’s SB-169.
