Is this monument really necessary?

April 25, 2003 11:06 AM

"Legislator to alter plan for anti-abortion statue" I'm pleased to see the bill's sponsor realized a statue of a fetus is a bit over the top....but why do it at all? (Especially in light of some budgetary problems we've had with education and other areas.) South Carolina: It's Not The Heat; It's The Stupidity. (more inside)
posted by alumshubby (27 comments total)

From Wednesday's paper:


Statue Would Honor Unborn Children

"The House Ways and Means Property Tax Subcommittee approved a bill Tuesday to build a monument outside the State House memorializing "unborn children who have given their lives because of legal abortion."

"The monument would be a 6-foot statue of a fetus on a 2-foot base placed on State House grounds where it would be visible from a nearby street.

"The bill requires a commission responsible for the monument to raise private funds and receive gifts and grants to build the memorial. The commission would have until next year to submit a design and location to the State House Committee for approval. The state would be responsible for maintaining the new monument along with others already on the grounds."
posted by alumshubby at 11:08 AM on April 25, 2003

Jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick, they actually considered that?!

All politics aside, that's just disturbing.
posted by me3dia at 11:12 AM on April 25, 2003

Agreed.
posted by Witty at 11:16 AM on April 25, 2003

They recently voted to change the design to depict an unhappy mother neglecting her unwanted children.
posted by Skot at 11:20 AM on April 25, 2003

I thought it was a typo, and they were discussing a statute. But then I flashed back to the three years I lived in S.C., and realized it had to be some yahoo-lawmaker silliness.

Maybe they can have the small children waving a confederate flag and piss off two constituencies at the same time.
posted by darren at 11:20 AM on April 25, 2003

Would it be a fetus that's been terminated in a "partial-birth" abortion? Because I would contribute to that.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:26 AM on April 25, 2003

Since South Carolina has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, I propose a statue depicting all the children which die shortly after birth due to lack of pre-natal health care.

Or you could just skip the statue and put it towards the health care itself.
posted by 4easypayments at 11:31 AM on April 25, 2003

what m3dia & witty said.
Just appalling.
posted by obloquy at 11:34 AM on April 25, 2003

Maybe these "rights activists" could put up another statue honoring the gay men cruising Senate Street that the cops used to throw in their patrol cars and beat up.

(shuddering with memory of having lived there)
posted by Dinzie at 11:39 AM on April 25, 2003

Dinzie, around here they'd put up the statue honoring the cops who did the beating-up looooong before they'd put up one honoring their victims.

This place reminds me a little of Utah except that the Mormons I've known tend to be a little bit more educated, personable and charming than yer average Babtist redneck.
posted by alumshubby at 11:56 AM on April 25, 2003

And when not contemplating golden idols fetuses, the South Carolina assembly is attempting to punish chicks.
posted by grabbingsand at 12:02 PM on April 25, 2003

alumshubby: I agree that this is moronic, but saying things like "South Carolina: It's Not The Heat; It's The Stupidity" perpetuate the "all southern people are stupid" myth and reinforce the southern misconception that all northerners are elitist bastards.
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 12:51 PM on April 25, 2003

On the plus side, this shows that some states do support art funding.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:51 PM on April 25, 2003

(perpetuates)
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 12:52 PM on April 25, 2003

what exactly is objectionable here, especially if it's funded by donations?
posted by paddy at 1:05 PM on April 25, 2003

I didn't realize South Carolina had anything other than strip clubs and golf courses.

Well, when I went there with my cronies that was all we saw anyway.

Am I the only one who pictures a statue of a fetus looking like larvae?
posted by vito90 at 1:22 PM on April 25, 2003

Phatty: I grew up here. Apologies for any perceived perpetuation of stereotypes on anyone's part, but out of sheer experience I stand by my aphorism.

paddy: It's on the State House grounds, maintained by state funding, and the Lege is wasting time and resources even considering this while we've got far more pressing problems in this state than "appropriate" monuments.

FWIW, I'm not entirely pro-choice out of religious concerns, but I think this is just waaaaay wrong to have the state government sanctioning this. If that guy from St. Andrews who's always demonstrating in front of the State House wants to put this in his own front yard or donated land, that's fine with me.

vito90: whaaaaa...didn't you see any of the liquor stores, storefront churches, and pawn shops?
posted by alumshubby at 1:27 PM on April 25, 2003

Hey, South Carolina isn't that bad. I've only lived here for a couple of years, but it seems that mostly its the lawmakers that do silly stuff like this (a statue of a fetus? *shudders*) and most of the people are . . . people. Of course living in a city, you have a decent mix of every sub group, but still, its not runover by rednecks. And even if it was, a redneck isn't necessarily a bad thing. And we have them everywhere, even up in Minnesota.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 2:23 PM on April 25, 2003

Even on MetaFilter.
posted by Witty at 2:42 PM on April 25, 2003

Damn, I had to do a double take. I almost thought that the first post said "statute" instead of "statue."
posted by jonp72 at 3:12 PM on April 25, 2003

Considering the "pro-life" stance of the South Carolina legislators who favour a fetus statue, shouldn't they also consider commissioning a sculpture of the state sanctioned murder weapon, as a companion piece in their crusade against murder?
posted by Dunvegan at 3:46 PM on April 25, 2003

Oh, I am totally in favor of the fetus statue. I would name it Paolo. Seriously, I love prolifers -- especially when they're doing shit like this and not anything productive.
posted by LittleMissCranky at 3:47 PM on April 25, 2003

You may be interested to know that such a statue already exists.... In far northern Wisconsin (Laona, WI -- I believe). I haven't seen it, but my coworkers have. It's in the town square. I swear to God.
posted by UWliberal at 3:58 PM on April 25, 2003

I wonder if they'll Give these out at the unveiling of the statue...
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 6:43 PM on April 25, 2003

Proposed design:


posted by SPrintF at 8:13 PM on April 25, 2003

It's Casper, if you're wondering.
posted by SPrintF at 8:14 PM on April 25, 2003

Fetus statue: Bad idea.

Cheap shot toward the entire state of South Carolina: Worse idea, and unnecessary.
posted by hama7 at 3:23 AM on April 26, 2003