Listen to Ross and Burbank weekdays on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM
 Ross+Burbank


Ross: Nothing funny about Doonesbury comic debate

BY Josh Kerns  on March 12, 2012 @ 11:43 am (Updated: 12:51 pm - 3/12/12 )





doonesbury

Fans of Doonesbury won't find the comic strip in the Seattle Times funny pages this week. Editors have moved it to the news section because cartoonist Gary Trudeau is focusing on a controversial Texas abortion measure.

The law requires women undergo a transvaginal ultrasound procedure before getting an abortion. In Monday's edition, a woman seeking an abortion is told to wait in a "shaming room" and "a middle-aged, male state legislator will be with you in a moment."

"At least that would be less cowardly than what they've done, which is basically enlist doctors and nurses as their moral mercenaries to tell women what they can do," says Ross and Burbank co-host Dave Ross about the strip and the law sparking it.

Seattle Times Executive Editor David Boardman told Seattle's Morning News that editors debated whether to move the strip this week to avoid offending children.

"One of our editors spoke passionately as a parent about not wanting to have to explain some of the more graphic elements of this to her child," said Boardman, who said the strip becomes more graphic and explicit in language throughout the week.

Ultimately, the paper opted to run it in the news section instead.

"It's surprising to me but unless it becomes incredibly graphic in some way going forward, it doesn't even strike me as moderately offensive," responded co-host Luke Burbank.

Burbank argued Doonsebury is basically irrelevant to younger people and therefore its content should not be a concern.

"What this basically is, is it is people who say they believe in small government actually passing a law that says small government will forcibly put a wand inside a woman," responded Ross.

Ross said he was particularly disturbed by newspapers that have no problem publishing stories about the controversial measure, but feel the need to "censor" the strip.

"So if that makes you uncomfortable, then I would say that Gary Truedau putting it in Doonesbury is the least of your problems," Ross said.

Listen to Dave and Luke on Doonesbury abortion debate

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
More Ross and Burbank

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (51)


  • Add A Comment

  • Forrest wrote...
    It's been statistically proven that the crime rate has dropped because of legalize abortion.
    March 12, 2012 5:55 pm
    Less unwanted children growing up neglected and angry. If you God fearing Republicans want abortion stopped, I assume that you're for free healthcare and free college education for all the unwanted children so they can lead a normal productive life, right?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tlmbrt wrote...
    Thoughts of "liberals"
    March 12, 2012 7:43 pm
    To a liberal, abortion on demand for the CONVENIENCE of a woman who does not want to be pregnant is her right and perfectly OK. Somehow a fetus is just another medical problem that can be corrected, and the rest of us should PAY FOR IT. Any attempt to restrict it is considered a "war on women" and a violation of their rights. That's why you get a stupid comic strip like this! The same "compassionate" liberal is also likely against the death penalty for any reason, even for murder. So the life of a murderer or child rapist is worth more than an innocent unborn child!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rich White and Orange wrote...
    Just remember 'timbrt', it's US against THEM
    March 12, 2012 10:48 pm
    A great strategy that has taken you far.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • froggy wrote...
    Not so certain it is a "stupid" strip...
    March 13, 2012 7:40 am
    as it has brought on a fury of comments. It points out to possible abuses of women seeking a legal procedure, which I am not saying is right or wrong. It also was commented that Luke was being a moron for suggesting young people aren't interested in this stuff. I'm pretty sure he meant children not yet sophisticated enough to know what this is acutally about and not young people as in young adults.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    Luke misses the point
    March 13, 2012 7:45 am
    The wand inside the ultrasound is the counter to government's support of a mother's choice to give a doctor permission to stick a needle into the back of the head of an unborn child and kill it or as President Obama proposed snip the spinal cord of that child that was "accidentally born" but needs to die anyway. You see government is being intrusive in order to save the life of a child. Get it?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TheSymbolForBoron wrote...
    Seattle Dad - Love the fetus, hate the child
    March 13, 2012 8:18 am
    Seattle Dad is one of those guys parading around downtown with gigantic, hi-res posters of aborted fetuses. Really great for the children. A real well-adjusted 'dad'.

    Idea for 'dad' -- if you are against abortion, don't have one. That's all you need to do to get to heaven. Don't sweat the other stuff so much. You don't want to end up as just another 'life is sacred' Scott Roeder, do you?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • The King's Son wrote...
    You just don't want to understand...
    March 13, 2012 8:37 am
    Why exactly is it that you think people are against abortion? No really...think about it. I know that it is the hip thing to do to spray your vitriol on those who want to protect life. But why is it that you think they are against abortion? You can't get it through your politically infected mind that what we're doing in the US is a horrible atrocity. We're reaching into women's wombs and killing the unborn. If that doesn't disturb you than I guess it's easier to understand how the Nazi's got so many people to be complicit in their ethnic cleansing campaign. Don't let popular culture define for you what is right or wrong. That's not brave or admirable, that's cowardly and neanderthal.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ElenaT wrote...
    It would happen regardless
    March 13, 2012 10:13 am
    pregnancy is an unfortunate consequence of a very human behavior that befalls people unprepared to deal with it. that's just part of life. people will get pregnant who do not want to be. i can't imagine the terror of having a foreign body growing inside me that is going to eventually rip its way out. people will find a way to terminate pregnancy, just as they always have. the difference is whether or not they have safe access to that option. it might be sad, but it's the only logical choice. if you're against it, teach your (wanted) daughters how to protect themselves at a young age. i know why people are against abortion, i just think that the reasons for allowing safe access are more logical and productive for the long-term survival of our culture.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Splinge wrote...
    Doonsbury is a Liberal, nothing new here...
    March 13, 2012 8:53 am
    This shouldn't be too alarming as the cartoon strip "Doonsbury" is and has been a liberal exhibition since it's inception, nothing earth shattering here. Plenty of time to argue about the funnies later, let's focus on the United States being raped by the current administration, which there is not currently a medical procedure to fix it with. (And no Obamacare won't help)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    If this is on my dime,
    March 13, 2012 9:32 am
    then making them go through the ultrasound is the least that should be done. Making someone realize that they are taking a life. A part of them. Not a clump of cells. Shaming room? You are going to execute an unborn helpless human. This is no less barbaric if you choose to murder someone on the street simply because you did not like the color of their hair!

    If these woman want to murder their babies they should be made to produce the other half of the drunken booze breath slobbering sex fest that occurred on the night of conception. Make the baby daddy see what will be done to his 1/2 of their baby that he helped to make.

    We have the power to destroy life. We were also given the power to create life. That was not given to us by science, Obama or evolution. That was given to us by God!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    It's been statistically proven that the crime rate has dropped because of legalize abortion.
    March 13, 2012 9:42 am
    Ha ha! And it is also proven that the universe of available jobs has shrank due to the ObamaEconomy killing private sector jobs.

    Ah! You mindless Left wing useful idiot Parrots are a constant source of amusement!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Seattle Dad is one of those guys parading around downtown with gigantic, hi-res posters of aborted fetuses. Really great for the children. A real well-adjusted 'dad'
    March 13, 2012 9:49 am
    So, symbol for whatever, having the left wing media and you programmed left wing Parrots telling children that abortion is painless and not murder and is legal and a moral right or having some concerned parent showing graohic pics and educating our children what abortion actually is and what it results in?

    Death.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Torqueboy wrote...
    Let's look at the facts
    March 13, 2012 9:53 am
    The main argument I hear from pro choice supporters say that abortion rights should be upheld to prevent unnecessary deaths of mothers in high risk pregnancies, or to relieve rape victims from their burden and shame. These are valid points and ones worth addressing. That being said I think we should ask how many of those women will die as the result of not having an abortion. The highest figures I have seen in that regard are of recent years. It seems pregnancies that are fatal to the mother have increased due to complications caused by obesity. Those figures put the number of deaths at 13 women per 100,000 pregnancies. That works out to a fatality rate of 0.013%. Now also consider that since Roe v Wade there have been over 50,000,000 babies aborted in the USA. If you figure that of those 50,000,000 babies 0.013% of the mothers would have died if they did not have an abortion that means that Roe v Wade has saved 6,500 mothers. In the USA we have killed 50 million to save 6.5 thousand. That's 50 million taxpayers, many of which could have been doctors, engineers, inventors, etc. One of them may have found a cure for Aids or cancer. Unfortunately we'll never know. Rather than pushing the argument that aborting a baby may save the life of a mother we should be asking how many babies we are willing to sacrifice in order to save the life of one person. Right now that figure is somewhere around 7,692 babies aborted for every one woman saved.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ElenaT wrote...
    do you think the US would be better off
    March 13, 2012 10:16 am
    with 50,000,000 more adults coming from sub-par childhooods??
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Torqueboy wrote...
    ElenaT
    March 13, 2012 10:27 am
    Yes.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Torqueboy wrote...
    ElenaT
    March 13, 2012 10:29 am
    Better yet, don't ask me. Go talk to someone who had a tough childhood. Go find an adult that was a foster child in their youth. Find one that was abused by their parents, neglected, malnourished, etc. Ask them if they would prefer to have never existed.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ElenaT wrote...
    you can ask them
    March 13, 2012 10:55 am
    when they're mugging you! i am certainly not saying that all formerly unwanted children should have been aborted. i work with kids with FAH who are being raised by adoptive parents. i also have a friend from my college years who is struggling with addiction and homelessness, who has lost custody of her three children, and while i think her kids are wonderful i have to wonder what her life would have been like if she had been able to grow up unhindered. there are a million vignettes. 50,000,000 people would contain many vignettes, but also valuable statistics. personally, i believe fifty million more people in the country would be a bad thing (that number would also be exponentially larger since those people are ostensibly also breeding, and probably earlier, with fewer resources.)
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ElenaT wrote...
    since you probably missed this one
    March 13, 2012 11:15 am
    it would happen regardless - pregnancy is an unfortunate consequence of a very human behavior that befalls people unprepared to deal with it. that's just part of life. people will get pregnant who do not want to be. i can't imagine the terror of having a foreign body growing inside me that is going to eventually rip its way out. people will find a way to terminate pregnancy, just as they always have. the difference is whether or not they have safe access to that option. it might be sad, but it's the only logical choice. if you're against it, teach your (wanted) daughters how to protect themselves at a young age. i know why people are against abortion, i just think that the reasons for allowing safe access are more logical and productive for the long-term survival of our culture.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • The King's Son wrote...
    Are you kidding me?
    March 13, 2012 12:25 pm
    "pregnancy is an unfortunate consequence", " i can't imagine the terror of having a foreign body growing inside me that is going to eventually rip its way out." Disgusting. You have no respect for human life and that is appalling. You know what, it really doesn't matter if it would be better for the country for those 50 million to never be born. Wrong is wrong. We'd also be better off without the Westborough nutjobs, white supremacists, black panthers, and old people. Your logic would have us wiping them out as well. As long as it's good for the country right? Please...Your double standard is disgusting. This debate isn't about what's good for the country. It's about wanting to have sex without consequences whenever you want. Unfortunately, in reality, sex has consequences. You just don't like it when people tell you that. Just another irrationality bred from the untenable philosophy of post-modernism...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ElenaT wrote...
    um...
    March 13, 2012 12:32 pm
    I do, in fact, think that I (and everyone) should be able to have sex whenever we want without consequence. That's why it's important to me that sex education and access to contraception is so important, and that people have healthy emotional relationships with themselves and those around them so that they can make good choices about who to have all that sex with. I wasn't making a moral judgment. Sex is a part of human nature and people are going to do it and accidentally become pregnant as a result of that behavior. It has nothing to do with you or me or what we think people "should" do. It's what HAPPENS in the real world. They will also seek out ways to end those pregnancies, legal or not. The steps we need to take to prevent accidental pregnancies seem to be at odds with those who want to make abortion illegal, which is what confuses me the most - namely, sex education and access to prophylaxis.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hayduke wrote...
    "editors debated whether to move the strip this week to avoid offending children."
    March 13, 2012 12:19 pm
    I'm sure that's in largely response to the demands of radical pro-life censors. Meanwhile, pro-life activists have no qualms whatsoever about going to schools and holding up ether-filled jars of fetuses and giant graphic posters.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }