Repeal "Reproductive Freedoms"

Repeal "Reproductive Freedoms" was an attempt by the nation of Omigodtheykilledkenny to strike out WA abortion-rights legislation in October 2014. Reproductive Freedoms, which was adopted by the General Assembly earlier that year, had already survived one previous repeal attempt, lodged by Alchemic Queendom in April 2014, by the time the Kennyite repeal came down the pipe.

This resolution, the first WA legislative effort by the Kennyites in over five years, garnered just 29% support on the General Assembly floor, marking the Federal Republic's eighth failed resolution in the UN/WA and fourth failed repeal.

History

Omigodtheykilledkenny was strenuously opposed to Reproductive Freedoms when it came to the floor for vote. The delegation had mildly supported the legislation in its drafting phase, when the authors from Eireann Fae tried to represent it as a moderate mandate to allow for national prerogative on regulating abortion. The Kennyites had had several run-ins with the Fae before: once, when they flaunted their "hot" teenage-girl ambassadors to the WA (which, admittedly, were probably much older than they looked, being fairies); and another time, when during a discussion of the controversial Family and Religion proposal, the Fae bragged about their quasi-authoritarian laws allowing parents to be reported for instilling religious indoctrination in their children without the children's "consent." These episodes ought to have clued the Kennyites in to the fact that the Fae were perhaps not the straightest shooters within the General Assembly. Eventually, all language within Reproductive Freedoms that could have allowed for local regulation was scrubbed out, and by the time it was submitted, the Fae were distributing leaflets explaining why voters shouldn't be bothered so much over its mandate for late-term abortion.

Several times the Kennyites suggested that Reproductive Freedoms should be or should have been "insta-repealed," both during the original debate and the debate for the first repeal attempt, which failed nearly 3-to-1 at vote. There were concerns within the GA that major delegates simply did not care that the resolution contained what were considered extreme mandates for late abortion; they did not want to strike out any law purporting to protect women's rights. This was especially true of The North Pacific and Europeia, whose delegates famously "stomped" the first repeal almost as soon as it got to vote. In spite of the certainty that they would do so again, the Kennyites worked up a quick repeal argument and submitted it without a drafting effort.

As it turned out, a quiet scheme to stack, or line up, sovereigntist delegates in support of the Kennyite repeal would not work, as the pro-choice delegates (who had a lot more votes) had repeated their stomping tactics. And it was just around that time that the Fae and their allies in Defwa started chiming in with character assassination on the GA floor, with Defwa citing (without proof) the Kennyites' "trollistic intentions" in moving forward with the repeal, and the Fae contingent charging the repeal authors with "deception" for claiming the original resolution had anything to do with abortion. But then, something wonderful happened: both nations began to attest to how an elastic interpretation of "termination" in the original could be taken to mean "live birth," since abortion was never specified. Thus, both nations were on the record verifying a fatal flaw within the legislation that could allow anti-choice nations to curtail abortion in their nations -- if they interpreted the legislation in the same manner -- and the Kennyites had an even more damning case for the next repeal attempt, since apparently the argument that the resolution forces legal late-term abortions and is indifferent to cases of forced abortion wasn't cutting it.

Though the prediction that the Feeders would be unanimous in their opposition to the repeal turned out to be false, the Kennyite repeal did not pick up any significant support since the first repeal, as the percentage of support was only three points higher.

Repeal text

Description: WA Resolution #286: Reproductive Freedoms (Category: Human Rights; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The World Assembly,

Acknowledging the importance of protecting the individual right to reproductive choice on an international level,

Agreeing that legislation on such a sensitive and controversial subject should affirm essential rights while at the same time providing for a modicum of reasonable restrictions to prevent abuse and assure the safety of all those involved,

Regretting that Resolution #286: Reproductive Freedoms falls short in this regard,

Noting that the resolution, by the author's own admission, compels member states to legalize abortion at any point in a patient's pregnancy, even into the late term,

Contending that Reproductive Freedoms' across-the-board legalization of abortion, with few allowances for nations to regulate the practice, and with little regard for preventing abusive cultural customs such as forced abortions or gender-selective abortions, exposes the irresponsible manner in which the legislation was crafted,

Objecting to the fact that the resolution ignores relevant concerns about reducing the need for abortion, in that it forbids "impediments" to abortion-on-demand, which could include even medical counseling about alternatives to abortion,

Expressing its concern that had the voters known just how radical and extreme the measures of this resolution were, it would not have passed,

Seeking consensus on a more moderate reproductive-rights resolution,

Hereby repeals Resolution #286: Reproductive Freedoms.

Gameplay impacts

This resolution would have had no effects on how NationStates is played as a game.

Additional materials

• Repeal "Reproductive Freedoms" - floor debate
• Reproductive Freedoms - floor debate on the original resolution
• Repeal "Reproductive Freedoms" - floor debate on the first repeal attempt