2-19-13Spleen.jpg

(Photo by JD Crowe 2/19/13)

State Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin (R-Pelham) has a unique perspective on why abortion clinics should face tighter restrictions. In a recent interview with Brian Lyman of the Montgomery Advertiser, the Alabama lawmaker said:

"When a physician removes a child from a woman, that is

. That's a big thing. That's a big surgery. You don't have any other organs in your body that are bigger than that."

The skin is usually known as the body's biggest organ - they say the average person wears about 8 pounds of it. I clocked in at about 7 1/2 pounds, so I wasn't quite the biggest of my mom's organs. But my sister Nonny was a 10-pound whopper. Please, not a word of this to her. You know how sensitive women are about their weight.

So, if babies are organs and organs are babies, does that mean an appendectomy is the same thing as an abortion? Are tonsils twins? My head hurts.

The Alabama House of Representatives is discussing

today. McClurkin and other supporters of HB 57 claim this bill is not meant to stop abortions, but to protect patients in clinics. Opponents fear this bill will shut down abortion providers and lead to costly lawsuits.

Not sure how this abortion-safety bill will play out, but one thing is certain: We can always look forward to learning new things about the human body when legitimate politicians start talking about anatomy.

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and on Twitter at @crowejam and @crowetoons