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I Asked Our Community What They Think Is Not Illegal But Should Be, 45 Responded
There are things that are considered wrong by a lot of people, however, one cannot do anything about them because they don't violate the law. Keeping that in mind, I asked the Bored Panda community to share some examples of what they think should be illegal but is not. Apparently, there are many things!
Here are the responses from our Pandas. What do you think should be illegal but is not? Let me know in the comments!
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Children's beauty pageants - parading kids in lipstick and padded bikinis - is wrong.
Removing puppies' tails or ears for cosmetic purposes. One of the most stupid things ever done to an animal.
The Pink Tax and making pads, tampons, and other essential items ridiculously expensive. I recently had to pay 10 dollars for a pack of 24.
we need them. its not like having a period is a choice. its not like when its my time of the month I can just be like "ya know what? I'm not gonna bleed today. I'm super broke."
Politicians voting on their own pay raises.
The American Health Care System. And anyone who makes a profit from it.
Listening to music or videos on your phone in public without headphones!!
Ads that put a fake X in the corner to basically force you into their clickbait.
CEOs making billions of dollars while their employees work 2 or more jobs just to keep a roof over their family’s heads.
How drug companies make “need to live” medical products cost more than one’s paycheck. Example: insulin, EpiPens, and anti-rejection meds for organ transplant patients.
In the U.S., advertising for pharmaceutical drugs. Your healthcare providers should be the ones suggesting what drugs may be beneficial to you, not a bunch of TV commercials.
Bullying. Punishments are too light for both child and adult offenders.
Me too! It really sucks. And everyone just tells me to get over it
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yes!!! lived in california while my son was in school. he was being bullied by a wannabe gang during high school as he was a big and kind of intimidating looking teen and they were trying to recruit him. when he refused they ganged up on him. when he came home injured he begged me not to do anything but no can do! besides, i was an officer for the district attorney so i had access to law library as well as able to discuss with attorneys. discovered that i could use the stalking laws of the state to prosecute not only the kids but their parents. and, since the school did nothing when it was initially reported, i could also use it against the school district and individuals who had been aware of it and still did nothing. when i called the superintendent of the district and informed him of this it took less than two hours to get the little b*stards written up and transferred to alternative school as they had had many complaints but no action had been taken.
My mom got called because I DEFENDED myself from bullying, AFTER repeated telling the teachers, and they WITNESSED it. My mom asked why they didn't intercede. Teachers responded "kids need to work it out themselves". Well, when in a group of 5 against 1, that's a BRILLIANT idea.
Work place bullying needs to stop being tolerated. I’m a nurse and it’s amazing how vicious some nurses are to each other. I still support unions but they really do protect the lowest of the low. I had a coworker once who killed his girlfriend (another coworker) come to find out he had been abusing, stalking, and harassing women for 18 years. He was caught a few times and plead down to a misdemeanor. The union didn’t stop protecting him until he had been in jail for murdering his ex gf and stabbing her 5 yr old for 4 MONTHS.
Wholly agree on this one. Been the victim of bullying at school and in the workplace. My daughter also sees the same at school (and it's a good school, supposedly) but entitled kids are probably the worst bullies ever (see our government for a prime example of this)
Not everywhere. New Jersey has a very strict anti-bullying policy. Kids at my school were saying "You're bullying me" for no reason, as always, and my teacher told them to stop because she legally has to report it. Also, there is a bullying assembly about every month, where they have actual police talk to kids.
Saw an article the other day were a 12 year old boy committed suicide because he had been bullied so badly. His school and parents knew and left him in the same class with the bully.
Ya I remember at one school, we moved around a lot, & I told a teacher about a relentless bully. He told me daily I should die, I was ugly, disgusting ect. Horrible Horrible s**t. She said it wasn't that bad & that he probably had a crush on me.... He did not have a crush. I never could figure out why my very presence offended him so much. It only stopped after the first panic attack I had, in 6th grade, in the full cafeteria, sitting by myself. No one helped me then either, just stared. When I finally calmed down, I quietly finished my lunch & hid in the bathroom until the bell rang.
This is exactly why kids turn to guns. Nobody listens to them when they talk about being bullied. And truth is bullying seems like a kids word for it... when I was in school it was full blown assault! Both sexual and physical... it's not "bullying" anymore. That would imply hair pulling and pulling pants down to laugh and undergarments. It's a new level of aggression now.
I was bullied to the point of nervous breakdown in toxic workplaces. Still have PTSD from it. Fortunately Australia has WorkSafe system so I was able to take my case there. I won and was paid substantial compensation, which meant I was able to afford expensive but important therapy. Look into "workplace bullying" - it's an eye opener, and may help you if you are being bullied.
One of my friends who's wheelchair bound was being bullied and was almost pushed down a flight of stairs. When I stood up to the idiot who was doing it, he tried pushing me down the stairs...he didn't expect to become a sled. Never messed with my friend again... Me- however... We had lots of fun in high school. He hated my guts. Everyone knew he got his butt kicked by a chick! XD He kept trying to come after me. One of his buddies kept holding a grudge-to the point he came to my apartment complex years later hyped on drugs and had a firearm.... The only reason he was arrested was kuz he was passing outside the bank across the St...
It was revealed later that he was after me... XD I walked right by him and even had a Convo with him asking if he was okay. He didn't even recognize me. Prob kuz I had GAINED 100 lbs and started wearing guys clothes and just in general stopped caring about sounding like a girl and went monotone...
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Speaking from experience. I was bullied by multiple people through multiple schools (moved a lot) and I can say that they were always quicker to punish me for retaliation and defending myself than they were to ever stop the harassment I was suffering at the time lol.
My friend was bullied. And when she went to her teacher about him assaulting her, the teacher said "he isn't the type to do that." He ended up going through on his punishment if she tried to tell anyone and it lead to her taking her life. And then the kids at school celebrated and praised her twin sister for "getting the b***h to finally kill herself." There was also abuse going on at home and the therapist thought the twins were making it up. Even with physical proof, the cops let the mom go because she "passed a lie detector test" and it lead to the death of my friend's twin sister. We have terrible protections for bullying and abuse in America. And even when I said my brothers bullied me, my therapist flat out said it's sibling rivalry while I was sitting there crying. I have so much I could tell, but people do not protect people from bullying. Even the teachers that cared about my friend did nothing to help her.
The solution to bullying is, and always has been, to stand up for yourself. With a brick, if need be.
The “authorities” are usually harder on the ones being bullied who fight back than they are to the actually bullies.
In junior high, 86-88, bullying was no picnic but I would never trade that for what traumas kids experience today.
It really is. And also, the school systems suck at preventing it too. Just because someone says "don't bully others kids" doesn't mean they solved the problem! If it did, then I wouldn't have anxiety probably!
I hate that the punishments are so light for bullies, but as soon as the victim stands up for themselves everyone gets punished harshly.
The catch-22 in schools is that if you try to ignore the bully, they keep at it. You defend yourself and the school punishes you for standing up for yourself. I was always afraid to stand up to my bullies in school because I knew the consequences and didn't want to get in more trouble at home for fighting at school. So i just endured years of name-calling, blatant exclusion, and just overall being forced to feel horrible about myself during my formative years. I HATE the public school system for this.
Any cop that's came to my school has always told us bullying is illegal
millennials, gen x, boomers.... we got bullied - some of us HARD - and literally nothing. No justice.
I have some friends and family who have had bullied children over the years. A few of them switched schools. It really irritates me that the bullied kid has to go. Every city should have a school just for bullies, they should be forced out and spend their educational years being the ones bullied.
My mom STILL brings up my bully's name and ask if I have thought about her lately, or seen her on social media. Like, WTF?!? WHY would I want to?!?
I was bullied and one time my grandpa saved me.it was kind of weird he showed up he lived in anther town he almost never visited us we always went to him and grandma and in high school a bully sucker punched me in the d**k(I no sold it) kept walking like nothing happened dude left me alone after that( but I did go to boys rooms and folded up where he couldn't see me
I was told by my old elementary school teacher that because they annoy other people (ANNOY not BULLY) I’m just being targeted not bullied. F you Mrs P!
Annoy? Targeted? Looks good in print but not reality. Mrs. P, you failed the task of protecting your student. Shouldn't there be something in your job description? Between the lines
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In Belgium, schools put the blame on the victim pretending that the kid lacks self defense abilities, physically or emotionally. Put my daughter in karate class ....
How to tell the world that your insecure in your masculinity without actually saying it.
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So you're saying that if a nine-year-old girl is being bullied and sexually harassed by a gang of 11-year-old boys, she's soft AF?
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That’s the BS that is the problem! Children need adults to help them and even adults need help when being bullied
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Gender Reveal Parties (or at least the ones that require explosives)
It's so dumb and people are always getting hurt from these. Popping a balloon is one thing, but firing a cannon? Not okay.
Why is everyone so invested in someone's kid's genitals?! The best gender reveal party would involve popping a balloon that sprinkled biodegradable purple confetti, followed by "Yakkity Sax" blasting on speakers while a couple people in fairy wings skip around with signs that say "Gender is a social construct," "Kids are more than gender," and "Ask me about my personally signed copy of Judith Butler's Gender Trouble."
Employers not paying a living wage.
Plastic clam shell packaging. Especially when it's used for a knife or pair of scissors.
For-profit health insurance companies. Another one: for-profit news organizations. I'm tired of "news" being more about evoking a visceral emotional response to get more clicks and money as opposed to thoughtfully laying out facts and reality (appealing to the intellect).
Bullfighting
Not being paid equally because you're not male. Like, how has this not been written into law!
Indeed. Everyone knows it's still happening, but governments aren't changing it, except Iceland. I think they've made it law for all genders to be paid equally.
Spam. Junkmail, that is (not the canned meat product).
Littering. Whoever gets caught dumping their trash somewhere where it doesn't belong (beach, ocean, streets, parks) should pay a fine or face legal proceedings.
Where I live technically you do have to pay a fine, but it isnt ever inforced.
I think that child marriage (marriage below 18) should be illegal with NO exceptions. It creates so much trouble for the kids, yet so many states still have many loopholes. Only a few have a strict ban. NO parental consent, NO exceptions, and KEEP it that way. Sometimes it is used to keep a rapist out of jail because the child is pregnant. There was actually a case, by the way, where a girl's father or mother had her married because her boyfriend got her pregnant while drunk. She only consented because she loved him, and she was happy to be a mother. Sadly, the child miscarried during the wedding, but her folks never got punished for this. Instead, they went to a different state to get consent from a judge. Man, life is wrong!
Lobbying.
Chewing gum and then sticking it on things which are not in a bin should be banished.
Came out of a store, the other day, to find a huge wad of bright blue chewing gum stuck onto my front bumper! I mean, wtf kind of person does that? Luckily it was raining and it just slid off when nudged with the toe of a shoe but STILL! UGH!
The gay panic defense (in some states is banned, most not though). Basically, it’s legal for someone to MURDER a gay person if they claim that they had an “uncontrollable reaction” to seeing a gay person. Yeah. I believe the men who murdered Matthew Shephard tried to use this defense.
Should definitely be banned.
Overloaded sugar in drinks and snacks.
Kissing babies that are not your own!
Wait- eww people do that?? I mean I kiss my baby cousin but she’s my cousin!
Smoking right at the entrance / exit of a building. I always have to cross a "smoke screen" when I exit the train station or want to enter a hospital. Some hospitals have taken action to create a "smoke area" away from their doors and I think it should be so for every public facility.
In the UK you have to be a minimum of 6ft away from an entryway or exit.
Fireworks. They upset my dog.
I think a lot of people would be mad about that because they are a fun tradition for some people. I used to love fireworks, but now I am scared of them because they are dangerous and I don't like loud noise anymore.
Doing things to a child because the parent consented. From kissing to ear piercings to stealing. Especially if the child is old enough to tell you if you can or can't.
Gerrymandering by sitting politicians
Excessive and unnecessary plastic packaging on products.
meta-data harvest/banking and data-profiling.
Especially menstrual cycle apps, now that the pro birthers have won this battle...just not the war
Spreading anti-vax information to any public platform
Any mention of vaccines on Facebook in Australia now gets a link to the real information by the government/health system, regardless if it's about a covid one
Showing school children in programs as being sexually attractive.
Reminds me of a perfume from the 1970s called Love's Baby Soft. Their full-page ad on the backs of magazines offered (yes, that's the right word) a girl of no more than 12 wearing makeup - complete with sticky red lips - looking into the camera, cuddling a teddy bear.
Having a system of government that transfers wealth upwards.
Regulation is the means by which the wealthy and powerful use government to protect their market share. The notion of a "well-regulated free market" is oxymoronic. As information technology expands, economies are increasingly able to be controlled not by regulation, but by informed choices. So Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Disney, GM, Exxon, etc., urgently convince people that they need more regulation. Absent governmental controls (like 100-year copyrights, frivolous patents, etc.), wealth and power will obey the law of entropy.
The electoral college
I mean, simply stating here, it’s controversial bc while it does give other small cities and states better recognition, it also was enacted bc America was founded by rich white men who did not want the poor white men “interfering”with the government. So if it was created to keep “uneducated” opinions from tainting the presidential vote, is it really still necessary in a society full of much more educated people than there were in the 18th century? Guess it really kind of depends on knowledge extents and educated opinions.
Over testing in schools. I feel more like a lab rat than a 5th grade kid!
But how else will we knowledge when you are ready for the next stage of the experiment. Err next class.
The 2 party system
catcalling women
In addition, women should respect men the same way. I'm in high school and just the way people talk to each other... it's so sexual and uncomfortable without the receiver's consent. It doesn't matter the gender, it's the action in general. And before you downvote me, I am a girl
Monday's. Nobody likes them so lets ban that day
February, too. It's short, nobody likes it, and just to be a pain in the butt, every four years they add a day.
Germany’s age of sexual consent laws: The age of sexual consent in Germany is 14, and it means that a 65 year old man can fully legitimately and legally have sex with a 14 year old girl. How on earth can that be????
Cigarettes
Note: this post originally had 111 images. It’s been shortened to the top 44 images based on user votes.
Influencers....as it seems to make so many of them feel they are entitled to 'free' and the people that follow them don't seem to have their own thoughts any more.
I do not recognize "influencing" as a job. I think they are leeches.
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The take away from this is that so many things are legal in the USA that are illegal and actively enforced in the U.K. and Europe.
But, but... It's the greatest country in the world...
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Here's one for you: Websites reusing stories from over a year ago, adding one or two new things, and presenting it as an entirely new article.
BoredPanda has been doing this increasingly now. I responded to a comment from over three years ago that one the BoredPanda "writers" posted today. This site actually (if you can believe it) used to write their own lighthearted articles in the past and focused more artwork. Now it has completely turned into a listicle website a'la Buzzfeed. Why do the employees have "writer" in their description if all they do is repost old articles or post listicles from Reddit/Buzzfeed? It is a shame as this really used to be a fun site. BoredPanda, you have people who are educated to write---USE THEM.
Load More Replies... BoredPanda why are you continually recycling and reposting articles from over a year ago? What in the world is happening to this site anymore from the censorship to the constant reposting? You have actual employees who are trained as writers, why in the world aren’t you using them?! I’m sick of lazy reposts and these constant “am I the a*****e” articles? What happened to all the art and fun articles on this site? Do the writers even write anymore?
Maybe BP Got Bought Out And Went "Corporate" ? (Shudder)
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Don't ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what. No matter where. Or who, or who you are with, or where you are going or... or where you've been... ever. For any reason, whatsoever.
Downvotes--BP Regards ALL Downvotes As "Offensive" Leading To Suspensions/Banishment--Some Downvotes Are Just "Disagree"
Most downvotes are disagreements yet BoredPanda still suspends its good users. They NEVER respond to e-mails anymore asking for trolls that spread hate speech on site to be suspended yet they censor common words like d**k and sex. This has to be one of the most hypocritical websites I have been on and it is a shame to see what was once a really fun lighthearted site has turned into.
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Influencers making profit out of ruining some poor grocery worker's day
Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change!
No one said the big ones huh? Ok, anti-abortion laws, police in schools (they just scare kids no matter what the intent), protesting people trying to get health care (no one needs a sea of a$$holes on their way into a vaccine clinic), continuously paying a small fine vs fixing an environmental problem that's getting worse, supporting a country (like Russia) who started a war for more power (looking at you Nestle), and refusing two people (18+) the right to marry.
Making things illegal just because they irritate you. We've become such an intolerant, control-freak society with no sense of individual liberty at all. So many people on this thread would make wonderful Nazis or Stalinists. You don't like a gender-reveal party? Don't go to one; I never have. You want to ban them? Screw you and the high horse you rode in on, you hypocritical totalitarian nitwit.
Alcohol. I know many won't agree, but I've dealt with too many alcoholics and had to live with one, so I find it way more damaging than weed, for example.
I thought this would be something funny and wholesome, such as "being forced to wake up early in the morning" or "going to work 5 days a week" or "cilantro". Instead, a bunch of so-called woke people try to enforce cancel culture, US Americans wish for things perfectly normal anywhere else and a few spread disinformation. Disappointing.
Interesting to read. Although I feel like a lot of this is just people’s pet peeves and not things that should be strictly illegal.
A lot of these are personal pet peeves. Glad someone mentioned it.
#20. Pay discrimination is already super illegal but employers will do any kind of shady nonsense to get around it. Know your rights and take those jerks to court. Loudly and publicly.
Fact Republic that in France child beauty pageants are banned. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24145119
I believe, as a photographer, a certain level of Photoshop on models without a disclaimer should be illegal. It often straddles false advertising
Treating 1st year apprentices like your lacky, tea maid!!! I personally think of this as bullying, they are there to learn a trade, job etc, not be your slave!!!!!
Some things that should be banned. 0) lists. 1) being repetitive. 2) lists. 3) people who tell you cantaloupe is really musk melon. 4) squishy grapes. 5) zero based indexing. 6) decorative cabbage. 7) the words moist and musk. 8) jokes about lists
Families to poor to send Kids to school. When parents Split up and the mother being a foreigner, forcing the kid to move with them to their country.
Political lawn signs. They're an eyesore that has no impact on the outcome of any election.
Can I just say I hate when men or women sexualize women's clothes. I mean it's clothes,like one time I was wearing my thigh high boots with long shorts and my Dad said You look like your going to the club. I mean can I not dress in anything that I'm comfortable in?
Walking out of the store with out buying nothing they will just stare at me or when my mama is in line then she go somewhere real quick to get something and the employees just be looking at me I have anxiety so
This article is a perfect example of what's wrong with society. Every single law being pushed here is malum prohibitum laws ("illegal because they're currently prohibited") and not malum en se laws ("illegal because it's wrong"). We already have all the malum en se laws we need - laws against murder, theft, rape, etc - so everything here is just subjective ideas that literally will and can never end. There's no quenching the beast and those in power will always use these laws (and the justifications you read in comments) to tyrannize their opponents.
IVF is mostly used for people who are sterile and cannot conceive on their own. But like the octo mom, then yes. It shouldn't be legal after too many kids.
Load More Replies... Influencers....as it seems to make so many of them feel they are entitled to 'free' and the people that follow them don't seem to have their own thoughts any more.
I do not recognize "influencing" as a job. I think they are leeches.
Load More Replies... The take away from this is that so many things are legal in the USA that are illegal and actively enforced in the U.K. and Europe.
But, but... It's the greatest country in the world...
Load More Replies... Here's one for you: Websites reusing stories from over a year ago, adding one or two new things, and presenting it as an entirely new article.
BoredPanda has been doing this increasingly now. I responded to a comment from over three years ago that one the BoredPanda "writers" posted today. This site actually (if you can believe it) used to write their own lighthearted articles in the past and focused more artwork. Now it has completely turned into a listicle website a'la Buzzfeed. Why do the employees have "writer" in their description if all they do is repost old articles or post listicles from Reddit/Buzzfeed? It is a shame as this really used to be a fun site. BoredPanda, you have people who are educated to write---USE THEM.
Load More Replies... BoredPanda why are you continually recycling and reposting articles from over a year ago? What in the world is happening to this site anymore from the censorship to the constant reposting? You have actual employees who are trained as writers, why in the world aren’t you using them?! I’m sick of lazy reposts and these constant “am I the a*****e” articles? What happened to all the art and fun articles on this site? Do the writers even write anymore?
Maybe BP Got Bought Out And Went "Corporate" ? (Shudder)
Load More Replies... Don't ever, for any reason, do anything to anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what. No matter where. Or who, or who you are with, or where you are going or... or where you've been... ever. For any reason, whatsoever.
Downvotes--BP Regards ALL Downvotes As "Offensive" Leading To Suspensions/Banishment--Some Downvotes Are Just "Disagree"
Most downvotes are disagreements yet BoredPanda still suspends its good users. They NEVER respond to e-mails anymore asking for trolls that spread hate speech on site to be suspended yet they censor common words like d**k and sex. This has to be one of the most hypocritical websites I have been on and it is a shame to see what was once a really fun lighthearted site has turned into.
Load More Replies... Influencers making profit out of ruining some poor grocery worker's day
Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change! Climate change!
No one said the big ones huh? Ok, anti-abortion laws, police in schools (they just scare kids no matter what the intent), protesting people trying to get health care (no one needs a sea of a$$holes on their way into a vaccine clinic), continuously paying a small fine vs fixing an environmental problem that's getting worse, supporting a country (like Russia) who started a war for more power (looking at you Nestle), and refusing two people (18+) the right to marry.
Making things illegal just because they irritate you. We've become such an intolerant, control-freak society with no sense of individual liberty at all. So many people on this thread would make wonderful Nazis or Stalinists. You don't like a gender-reveal party? Don't go to one; I never have. You want to ban them? Screw you and the high horse you rode in on, you hypocritical totalitarian nitwit.
Alcohol. I know many won't agree, but I've dealt with too many alcoholics and had to live with one, so I find it way more damaging than weed, for example.
I thought this would be something funny and wholesome, such as "being forced to wake up early in the morning" or "going to work 5 days a week" or "cilantro". Instead, a bunch of so-called woke people try to enforce cancel culture, US Americans wish for things perfectly normal anywhere else and a few spread disinformation. Disappointing.
Interesting to read. Although I feel like a lot of this is just people’s pet peeves and not things that should be strictly illegal.
A lot of these are personal pet peeves. Glad someone mentioned it.
#20. Pay discrimination is already super illegal but employers will do any kind of shady nonsense to get around it. Know your rights and take those jerks to court. Loudly and publicly.
Fact Republic that in France child beauty pageants are banned. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24145119
I believe, as a photographer, a certain level of Photoshop on models without a disclaimer should be illegal. It often straddles false advertising
Treating 1st year apprentices like your lacky, tea maid!!! I personally think of this as bullying, they are there to learn a trade, job etc, not be your slave!!!!!
Some things that should be banned. 0) lists. 1) being repetitive. 2) lists. 3) people who tell you cantaloupe is really musk melon. 4) squishy grapes. 5) zero based indexing. 6) decorative cabbage. 7) the words moist and musk. 8) jokes about lists
Families to poor to send Kids to school. When parents Split up and the mother being a foreigner, forcing the kid to move with them to their country.
Political lawn signs. They're an eyesore that has no impact on the outcome of any election.
Can I just say I hate when men or women sexualize women's clothes. I mean it's clothes,like one time I was wearing my thigh high boots with long shorts and my Dad said You look like your going to the club. I mean can I not dress in anything that I'm comfortable in?
Walking out of the store with out buying nothing they will just stare at me or when my mama is in line then she go somewhere real quick to get something and the employees just be looking at me I have anxiety so
This article is a perfect example of what's wrong with society. Every single law being pushed here is malum prohibitum laws ("illegal because they're currently prohibited") and not malum en se laws ("illegal because it's wrong"). We already have all the malum en se laws we need - laws against murder, theft, rape, etc - so everything here is just subjective ideas that literally will and can never end. There's no quenching the beast and those in power will always use these laws (and the justifications you read in comments) to tyrannize their opponents.
IVF is mostly used for people who are sterile and cannot conceive on their own. But like the octo mom, then yes. It shouldn't be legal after too many kids.
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