South Dakota GOP Governor Kristi Noem: “Every life is precious.”

When asked today (Sunday, 03July2022) by Dana Bash, CNN News Anchor, and Chief Political Correspondent about the matter excerpted and linked below, South Dakota’s GOP Governor Kristi Noem refused to answer a direct question about a real-life situation, if it were to have occurred in South Dakota.

The matter is a very real one, and it is the tragic sexual abuse of a 10-year old girl who became pregnant as a result of that abuse, and was referred by a Child Abuse physician in Ohio to an OBGYN colleague in Indiana.

These matters, while previously in the realm of the fictitiously surreal, as in “The Handmaid’s Tale” — a dystopian 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, in which a militaristic totalitarian theocracy has overthrown the United States government, as the story’s plotline explores themes of the women subjugated by the extremist, oppressive government, and the various ways by, and through which they gain agency in that society — sadly, have now become reality.

An Ohio 10-year-old crossed state lines for abortion care in Indiana. She isn’t alone.
July 2, 2022, 1:08PM ET
INDIANAPOLIS – On Monday, three days after the Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, MD an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, took a call from a colleague, a child abuse doctor in Ohio.

Hours after the Supreme Court action, Ohio had outlawed any abortion after six weeks. Now, this doctor had a 10-year-old patient in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant.

Could Bernard help?

Indiana lawmakers are poised to further restrict or ban abortion in mere weeks. The Indiana General Assembly will convene in a special session July 25 when it will discuss restrictions to abortion policy.

But for now, the procedure still is legal in the state. And so the 10-year-old girl was soon on her way to Indiana to Bernard’s care.
—MORE—
see: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/nation/2022/07/02/10-year-old-ohio-indiana-abortion-roe/7795409001/

Fearful for her political life should she respond candidly and forthrightly, Noem is quite adept at playing political dodgeball, and avoiding giving direct, or straightforward answers to direct questions put to her.

In the exchange, Ms. Bash asked Governor Noem: “So I just — because this is a trigger law that was passed before you became governor — I wanted you to be clear: Will the state of South Dakota, going forward, force a 10-year-old in that very same situation to have a baby?”

Governor Noem initially deflected by responding: “You know what I think is incredible, Dana, in this tragic story? Because I heard about this last night. What’s incredible, is that nobody’s talking about the pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10-year-old. What are we doing about that?

Bash: [interrupting] “I agree with you. Of course. And that’s an important discussion to have. You’re right.”

Noem: [interrupting, overtalking Bash]

Bash: [attempting to redirect toward the question, and press the question]

Noem: “And as much as we can talk what we can do for that little girl, I think we also need to be addressing those sick individuals that do this to our children.”

Bash: “Right. I couldn’t agree more. But our bodies are our [emphasized] bodies, and women are the ones who get pregnant. And, in this case, it wasn’t a woman — it was a girl. Should she have to have… a child… [give birth to] a child? Should she have that baby?”

Noem: “Every single life is precious. This tragedy is horrific. I can’t even imagine. I have never had anybody in my family, or myself, gone through anything like this. I can’t even imagine. But, in South Dakota, the law today is that the abortions are illegal, except to save the life of the mother.

Bash: [interrupting] “You’d be okay with that — with a 10-year-old child having to have a baby?”

Noem: “No, I’m never okay with that. In fact, that story will keep me up at night. It absolutely will.

Bash: [interrupting] “So will you try to change the law, to have an exception in a situation like this?”

[crosstalk]

Noem: [deflecting] “I’ve got a one-year-old little granddaughter named, ‘Miss Addie’… I can’t even imagine. What I would say is, I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy. And so there’s more that we have got to do to make sure that we really are living a life that says every life is precious, especially innocent lives that have been shattered, like that 10-year-old girl.”

Bash: “Yeah… and it’s incredibly complicated, and I get it. But, I guess my question is: ‘Given how heartbroken you seem to be about the situation, maybe the question is this — because what I’ve been thinking about, how is… [long silent pause] a 10-year-old-girl physically — probably can’t even carry a baby — without being — never mind being emotionally, and mentally tormented, but physically hurt. Would you consider that [emphasis] the life of a mother… at risk?”

Noem: [nodding head, as if in agreement] “I think that’s something, yeah, that situation, the doctor, the family, the individuals closest to that, will make the decisions there for that family. That’s what’s interesting about the time we live in right now. Is, every state will have different laws on the books, the decisions will be made by the legislators that are closest to the people. That’s appropriate. It’s the way our Constitution is intended. And I think that South Dakota’s laws may look very different than California’s, may look very different than New York’s, where that governor has said she wants to become a destination known for providing abortions. That’s not our story here in South Dakota. And I think every governor, every state will make very different decisions on what their laws look like.

“…every single life is precious.”

South Dakota GOP Governor Kristi Noem appears on CNN’s “State of the Union” political news/talk show w Host Dana Bash, on July 3, 2022 following the SCOTUS recent reversal of Roe v Wade & discusses a real-life situation in Ohio involving the pregnancy of a 10-year-old child.

What I immediately thought of is this:

“Every sperm is sacred.”

That’s the name of a song & skit (linked below) in the 1983 motion picture, “Monty’ Python’s The Meaning of Life,” and what Noem said reminded me of the wholesale hypocrisy, contradiction, and absurdity of her position, and the hilarious parallels to the topics mentioned in the song & skit.

For those unfamiliar with the skit, it’s a jest, a riff on the Catholic church’s stance on human sexuality, including masturbation, which they consider wrong (sinful and displeasing to their god), or even immoral. They’re not the only ones, either. The Mormons do, as well, as do some others (undoubtedly) — I think even Muslims consider masturbation to be wrong.

The gist of the matter in the skit, which pokes fun of the Catholic church specifically, and Christendom in general, is that their hierarchy seek to control the lives of their members, and one way is by controlling their sexuality. Of course, it’s all couched in the language to the effect that sexuality and its expression is somehow shameful, and wrong, bad, or worse — even evil.

Nudity and human sexuality are cast as something to be thought of as shameful. And as the story is told, “in the beginning,” the man and the woman were naked, and unashamed — which immediately casts in the reader’s mind a stark contrast. And then… the woman was seduced by a snake (a phallic object) disobeyed by eating the forbidden fruit. And from there, it’s all downhill. ‘It’s the woman you gave me… it’s her fault,’ said the man. The reality of the matter is that the man blames the god by remarking to the effect that “it’s the [fault of the] woman YOU gave me,” which actually starts out as placing blame on the god, and in the same breath quickly diverts and focuses upon the woman. And again, as the story goes, the god didn’t disagree with anything that the man said. So, it’s quite plainly evident from the get-go that women are at fault for everything, and their god is apparently quite fine with all that.

But, when we talk about pregnancy, and “fetal heartbeat” as defining when life begins, that’s purely absurd, and flies in the face of long-standing, and accepted position from time immemorial.

For thousands, upon thousands, upon thousands of years, life was understood to begin the moment when “the breath of life” was independently breathed.

NOT some asinine “fetal heartbeat.”

For if life begins at that point (the so-called “fetal heartbeat”), we should excise it from its captivity to SET IT FREE.

See how stupid these nuts are!?!

see: https://www.businessinsider.com/gov-noem-wont-answer-change-laws-10-year-old-abortion-2022-7

[DAD]
There are Jews in the world
There are Buddhists
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I’ve never been one of them

I’m a Roman Catholic
And have been since before I was born
And the one thing they say about Catholics is:
They’ll take you as soon as you’re warm
You don’t have to be a six-footer
You don’t have to have a great brain
You don’t have to have any clothes on
You’re a Catholic the moment Dad came
Because

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate

[CHILDREN]
Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate

[GIRL]
Let the heathen spill theirs
On the dusty ground
God shall make them pay for
Each sperm that can’t be found

[CHILDREN]
Every sperm is wanted
Every sperm is good
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood
[MUM]
Hindu, Taoist, Mormon
Spill theirs just anywhere,
But God loves those who treat their
Semen with more care

[MEN]
Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great

[WOMEN]
If a sperm is wasted,…

[CHILDREN]
…God get quite irate

[PRIEST]
Every sperm is sacred

[BRIDE and GROOM]
Every sperm is good

[NANNIES]
Every sperm is needed…

[CARDINALS]
…In your neighbourhood!
[CHILDREN]
Every sperm is useful
Every sperm is fine

[FUNERAL CORTEGE]
God needs everybody’s

[MOURNER #1]
Mine!

[MOURNER #2]
And mine!

[CORPSE]
And mine!

[NUN]
Let the Pagan spill theirs
O’er mountain, hill, and plain

[HOLY STATUES]
God shall strike them down for
Each sperm that’s spilt in vain

[EVERYONE]
Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is good
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite iraaaaaate!