More Republican Crazy Legislation

A few weeks ago in this column I wrote about some of the Republican bills filed in various states including here in Texas that really aren’t good for the country. Since then several more have surfaced; it’s almost like some of these legislators heard about what was being proposed and said hold my beer as they vie to file even more extremist bills.

In South Carolina H.B. 3549 by state Rep. Rob Harris (R-Spartanburg County) would define any unborn child, at any stage of development from the moment of fertilization, as a “person.” The bill also makes clear that all penalties for crimes against a “person” apply and since South Carolina has the death penalty that punishment can be applied to a mother who feels the need to control her own body and the doctor who performs the procedure. In addition the bill specifically says the “law of parties” applies so other members of the medical staff, the receptionist, and the friend who drove the woman to the appointment can all be charged with murder and suffer the death penalty upon conviction. As usual with Republicans Harris doesn’t understand the constitution’s stance on separation of church and state as he  justifies the legislation with religious belief as shown in this passage from its text "The General Assembly finds the following: Acknowledging the sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God...". Don’t think that Rep. Harris is a lone crackpot as the bill currently has gained 17 other sponsors over the last few weeks.

Then there’s Florida where Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur filed SB 1316 just over a week ago. His bill would require bloggers who write about state officials to disclose who is paying them and how much. "If a blogger posts to a blog about an elected state officer and receives, or will receive, compensation for that post, the blogger must register" with the appropriate office within five days of the post, the legislation says. The bill says blog “does not include the website of a newspaper or other similar publication." The executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Bruce Brown says "When a bill this plainly unconstitutional is introduced it's essential that journalists explain to the public why it runs afoul of the First Amendment.” Brown further explained "Our system of free expression rejected the British tradition of licensing printers because we recognized that it was the essence of self-rule to have complete freedom to criticize the public officials who act in our name. The registration regime proposed here would encumber that and deny Floridians their right to hear from a variety of voices about the conduct of their elected leaders." It never ceases to amaze me that Republicans pretend to be defenders of the constitution but in reality only care about their recent interpretation of the Second Amendment.

Texas Republicans certainly don’t want to be outdone so a slew of them in both House and Senate filed bills to prevent any governmental or business entity in the state from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations. Should S.B. 1177 filed by Senator Bob Hall pass neither public nor private schools could require students to have been vaccinated for COVID-19. Hall also filed S.B. 308 which would prohibit any public accommodation, meaning restaurant, hotel, bakery, etc. from so much as separating vaccinated customers from un-vaccinated customers. Senator Lois Kolkorst filed S.B. 1026 which prohibits employers from requiring their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Representative Jeff Leach filed HB 3475 and several other Republicans filed all filed similar bills.

Published in the Seguin Gazette - March 8, 2023