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As Gen Con prepares to set up at the Indiana Convention Center this week, the group’s leadership on Wednesday sent a stern message to Indiana lawmakers about a proposed bill that would result in a near-total abortion ban.
Leaders of the tabletop gaming convention—one of the city’s largest events each year—said they are prepared to consider leaving Indiana if Senate Bill 1, a Republican-backed piece of legislation that aims to strictly limit abortions in the state, becomes law.
“We at Gen Con believe in the right to autonomy over our bodies and the right to choose. Reproductive rights are human rights. Like many of you, we are hurt, angry, and frustrated by recent events, including the recent advancement of SB1 by the Indiana General Assembly,” Gen Con’s statement said. “These actions have a direct impact on our team and our community, and we are committed to fighting for safety, tolerance, and justice in all the places we operate.”
The bill, now making its way through the General Assembly as part of the ongoing special session, would ban abortion at conception except for narrow exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies, rape, incest and the life and health of the mother.
The language is facing extensive pushback, both from those who feel it is too broad or unnecessary altogether and others who believe it doesn’t go far enough in curtailing abortions. Several changes have been made to the bill in its travels through the House and Senate.
While Gen Con’s statement stopped short of indicating whether the organization would end its relationship with the state over the matter, Gen Con president David Hoppe said later Wednesday at a press conference that it was a possibility.
“Despite our enthusiasm for this year, I want to note that we are deeply troubled by the action currently under way in the Indiana General Assembly,” he said. “Passage of Senate Bill 1 will have an impact on our stakeholders and attendees and will make it more difficult for us to remain committed to Indiana as our long-term annual home.”
It’s the first instance of a major Indianapolis trade show or convention publicly pushing back on the bill.
It’s also the first major push against proposed state legislation by a convention group since the Religious Freedom Restoration Act sparked extensive backlash in 2015.
Set to run Thursday through Sunday, Gen Con is continuing to take a more cautious approach to public health for its event, requiring that staff and attendees wear masks and show proof of full vaccination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Seattle-based group has been a staple of the Indianapolis tourism calendar since 2003, and is set to meet in Indianapolis through at least 2026. It’s been among the loudest proponents of the upcoming expansion and hotel addition at Pan Am Plaza, which aims to keep Indianapolis a feasible site for Gen Con and other major conventions.
Over the past 20 years, the convention’s economic impact and attendance figures have grown extensively. It drew about 22,000 people in 2004, bringing about $25 million to the city. In 2019, the last event before the pandemic, Gen Con generated about $74 million and brought in 70,000 visitors.
Chris Gahl, vice president of Visit Indy, said a few other conventions, which he declined to name, have also reached out to discuss the bill with local tourism officials.
“In addition to Gen Con, there are a handful of other conventions we know are closely watching what’s happening at the Indiana Statehouse,” Chris Gahl, vice president of Visit Indy, said. “All of our large annual conventions are constantly being peppered by other cities asking them to pull out and come over to their city. So, we viciously protect groups like Gen Con and work year round to … grow them [in Indianapolis]. With that in mind, our nonprofit will keep working with Gen Con to keep them safe and sound.”
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It’s RFRA all over again. Out-of-control “conservative” legislating can be harmful in many different ways, curtailing human rights (other than the mythical right to carry every weapon imaginable), degrading health and costing real money in economic development and tourism. Georgia has experienced the pain multiple times, most recently with the cancelation of a lucrative music festival because lax gun laws made it impossible to keep guns out. Seriously, who wants to go to a music festival and be surrounded by thousands of drunk, armed people? Meanwhile, once all of the anti-abortion legislating is done, we’ll see more and more economic activity and smart young people leaving red states like Indiana and moving to states that respect American values and actual freedom. Conservative legislating is hazardous to our state.
LOL, more of that “smart young people leaving red states like Indiana” silliness.
Are they moving to Portland or Seattle or Denver so they can defecate in a McDonald’s parking lot, or California so they can be mugged in broad daylight and get arrested if they dare try to stop the mugger? Outside of maybe Mississippi and West Virginia, the majority of states that are losing population are true blue, including our neighbor to the west. The moral arrogance of the left would be far more hilarious if it weren’t indistinguishable from the sanctimoniousness of the religious right. Always funny hearing leftists talk about “American values”, proving once again they’ve become the finger-wagging church ladies they used to rail against.
If you drooling ideologues would be capable of perception, you’d recognize that the drooling ideologues on the right are being cut down a peg: in Kansas (a state more conservative than Indiana) the electorate voted to keep abortion legal. This is hint to the GOP–or at least those GOP members who have any self-awareness–that they are overstepping their bounds. Reason may very well prevail or they’ll feel the hurt this November.
But that doesn’t give any justification for a stupid featurette on Gen-Con. Do people get abortions during conventions? Isn’t more important for them to simply feel safe during their four days here? The cesspools of the West Coast are losing conventions because their city leadership can’t even promise that much. Gen-Con started in Milwaukee, and Wisconsin is contending with the exact same abortion-related issues. This article is just another stale piece of propaganda from a corrupt joke of a rag that IBJ has become.
Yet CA, IL, and NY lost seats due to people leaving the blue states where they have all these rights and went to red states
Wait a minute, didn’t the voters of Kansas just turnout in record numbers to vote overwhelmingly against the repeal of a provision in that state’s constitution protecting a woman’s right to abortion? Seems as though self-righteous state legislators may be in sync with their base, but their base isn’t representative of the state as a whole. Republic state legislators in Indiana would be wise to re-assess their blind allegiance to the different factions – so-called pro-lifers and gun owners – that might help them win primaries but potentially could drag them down to defeat in the general elections.
Are the smart young people moving to Chicago so they can get shot for their cell phone in the middle of the day in the wealthiest neighborhood (Lincoln Park). Let ’em go.
Did you have a problem when Stacey Abrams and the wokestapo chased the “lucrative” All Star Game out of Georgia, only to go to a state with even more restrictive voting requirements?
Leftist thinking is hazardous to our country.
And guess how those people moving to red states for their affordability are voting? That’s why Texas is probably just a couple of election cycles away from turning Blue. That’s exactly what happened to Colorado.
Younger people aren’t moving to red states because they’re red. They’re moving to red states because they’ve been historically cheaper (that’s disappearing) and then their voting patterns turn them purple or blue. Don’t mistake people moving to red states for embracing conservative values, because that’s far from the truth.
I hope Gen Con “votes with their wallet” at the earliest possible opportunity. As we saw with the RFRA debacle, such actions are seemingly the only way to get our state lawmakers’ attention.
The women trapped in Indiana are grateful for Gen Con’s support. Money is all that Indiana cares about.
And these are the people who dress up and pretend to be something else. Well, our legislative branch is a weak group. I am sure they will fold. Indiana is lost.
Yeah, like Indiana Republican state legislators also don’t “dress up and pretend to be something else.” Gimma a break…
Just walk around the Lucas Oil Stadium area on eight Sundays during the fall and you’ll see far more people “dressing up and pretending to be something else” than at Gen Con.
@ Channing Hahaha…
Only approx 35% of Americans are conservative yet we have a 67% conservative Supreme Court making decisions.
Kansas an overly conservative state voted 63% pro choice. Over 60% of Americans are pro choice. The people should decide. Politicians should vote with the majority but they won’t because the political system is broken and money rules.
You are correct about Kansas, and yes, I agree, the people should decide.
Which is precisely what the conservative SCOTUS have given them. Clarence Thomas announced the divestment of SCOTUS power on a judgment that has nothing to do with the US Constitution, thereby returning it to state legislatures that are a direct product of the power of the ballot. It was a power-to-the-people move, yet Dems are claiming it’s an “out-of-control SCOTUS” because they want unelected, life-term bureaucrats making these decisions, apparently. SCOTUS reigned itself in. It’s high time we see more pro-choice people who support (or at least have come to terms with) the overturning of Roe, and this lets it play out among the states on the thorniest of moral issues for which there will never be close to consensus.
Politicians should vote with the majority by and large, while routine elections and a republican buffer (appointees, delegates) helps prevent outright tyranny of the majority. Most people want abortion safe legal and rare, but the left abandoned that with third-trimester abortion several years ago.
No Lauren, you are not allowed to vote on what Indiana’s abortion laws should be. Only state legislators – especially Republicans ones who comprise the super-majority who are in control – get to decide and vote on what those laws will be. In Kansas, every voter could cast a ballot expressing their view. And it is abundantly clear in that state a vast majority of voters chose differently than what the legislature would have done. I suggest that would be the case in Indiana too, if only every voter were afforded that opportunity.
Lauren – can you name the Indiana Democrats who have pushed for third trimester abortion by choice, either in their campaigns or in amendments to the most recent bills?
Indiana Republicans took polls before they moved ahead. They knew exactly where people stood on abortion and proceeded anyway. I seriously doubt those polls were different than what we just saw in Kansas or they would have released the results to bolster support. But, they’ve promised the anti-abortion religious fanatics on the right action for 50 years and have to deliver.
Lucky for Indiana Republicans, the Indiana Democratic Party (which reportedly still exists) is too inept to flip more than a handful of seats even if there is outrage when Indiana Republicans pass their current bill. I don’t foresee lots of Indiana voters deciding to become single issue voters and voting for the Democrat asking for abortion to be legal at somewhere between 15-22 weeks over the Republican who is upset with the zero week abortion law because it’s not harsh enough on rape and incest victims.
No Mary Ann we live in self absorbed world that is tolerant until there is dissension.
My way or the highway mentality.
We are living it times where right is wrong and wrong is right, where dark is light and light is dark.
And where hypocrisy prevails in automy over your body for abortion but not vaccines.
Isn’t that amazing that a full 65% of the population is so inept they need to be told what to do, when to do it and how by some elected or unelected bureaucrat.
Thank God I am a conservative and can think, reason an make decisions on my own.
Per usual, Brent is 100% ideology, no internal logic.
Referenda are feasible in any state in the country though the mechanics that enable them are going to differ based on Constitutional provisions in each state. They shouldn’t be conducted at a whim, or you easily get a tyranny of the majority situation.
But, in the absence of an easy referendum, you have your elected legislators. And if they fail sufficiently to represent their constituents accurately or honestly, you punish them in the polls.
And Joe B, you are more than welcome to punish the GOP for overreach at the polls this November, though we know you feel they need it anyway. I plan to punish them if they don’t start moderating themselves.
“Safe legal and rare” remains the most effective means of capturing the sentiment at large. The further we deviate from this, the more politicians should be punished. So far we have five states–AK, NM, CO, NJ, VT, and DC–where abortions are legal at any stage.
No Joe, I can’t name any Indiana Democrats who pushed for third trimester abortion by choice. But do they need to? In the desperate scorched-earth attempt to save Roe, the Dems at the federal level were pushing for nationwide abortions to be legal at any stage. If red-state delegates were consistently willing to buck their party, I’d be more confident that the looney-tunes of the far left could get reined in. But so far, the only two who seem to do this are Sinema and Manchin…while facing death threats from their own party loyalists.
In Kansas and other states, enactable referendum are allowed to be brought before voters. How do we amend the Indiana constitution to allow that?
You can’t, because an amendment to the state constitution would have to proposed by the Republican-controlled state legislature. And what do you think the odds are that they would do that?
I believe that non binding questions could be put on the ballot by the Legislature if they really wanted the input.
Joe B. – Non-binding, which means the exalted state legislators don’t care what “we the people” think.
I’d settle for a non binding referendum. That, or the Indiana GOP release their poll they reportedly shows not only support for rape/incest/health of mother provisions, but also first trimester abortions…
Non-binding referendum are often attached to the ballot during major elections. They are an effective poll and can indicate public sentiment.
But, frankly, even in states bluer than Indiana, there seems to be little evidence that the abortion issue is significantly galvanizing to supersede people’s desire to punish the Democrats at the federal level for 18 months of ineptitude.
Our legislators won’t listen to the women in this state. Maybe they will listen to their wallets. Strange choice, but whatever works. Indiana is long overdue for an upgrade in representation.
On the list of problems in downtown Indianapolis, this issue doesn’t even rank with the majority of people in the neighborhoods.
more BS saber rattling. I’m sure Salesforce will come thru soon threating to move. Let’s here from Starbucks.
Why do I care about a convention of gamers??? Really this is what Indy has come to??? What a joke. You would think the high crime near the venues in Indy would be a bigger concern……I guess not with that crowd.
I am making an extra $500 this weekend on my Airbnb because of Gencon. I care. And having lived downtown for the last 30 years, I have no idea what you are talking about when it comes to crime.
Well heck Dan M.; let’s base state policy on what you get for your AirBNB one weekend of the year…
Dominic M. – Mock the Airbnb all you want, but it’s a small business that depends on visitors to Indianapolis for its very existence (and probably helps put food on the table, gas in the tank, and maybe even dollars donated to charity). Your disdain for the benefits of Indianapolis’ convention business smacks of smug ignorance.
Indianapolis is the 2nd-largest convention industry in the US. A loss of even GenCon is a loss of tens of millions of dollars. Businesses are built entirely on the existence of such conventions.
I’m bored with the nonsense that Downtown is “high-crime.” It’s not by any statistical measurement and certainly not by comparison with the rest of Marion County and the State of Indiana. Most of the complaints about “crime” that I hear (always from people in the distant suburbs, who don’t live here) are about the homeless population, which isn’t a crime. Could Downtown be better? You bet, and we should work on that. Is violent crime a particular ongoing issue for Downtown specifically? No.
Unborn children also have human rights. Proponents of those rights believe the right to life is a sacred right that is far more important than money and lost revenue from those that advocate death over life. Conservative legislators and citizens that value life over death are willing to accept economic losses and loss of “smart young people”. They know the gate is narrow and the “world” will ridicule and persecute those that follow Jesus.
The same pro life proponents are the same people that vote for conservatives that don’t want to ban military weapons and enact stricter gun laws. The same people that vote for candidates that vote against veterans, health care, child care, elderly care, family leave, vaccines, masks, etc.
Pro life is really about power and anti abortion. They’re don’t value life outside the womb.
Mark B. – +1
Mark H. – As long as you are invoking religion, can you address the fact that three recent nominees to the Supreme Court lied under oath (“so help me God”) about Rove v. Wade being “settled law”?
@Mark H: “Unborn children also have human rights.”
.
They do? The current members of SCOTUS stated they used what is (or is not) explicitly in the US Constitution as the Law of the Land to vacate legalized abortion. Care to show all of us where in the Constitution it says “Unborn children have ANY rights?” There’s an old saying: “The burden of proof is always on the person making an assertion or proposition”.
.
It’s suspected they will use the same logic to outlaw same sex marriage. I suspect, however, they won’t use it to outlaw mixed race marriage because of Clarence Thomas.
I take it Mark B has never read the US Constitution or excepted personal responsibility.
Martha Sanger was very clear on what the abortion issue was all about, you may want to take a peak behind the curtain!
Phillip is actually on the Declaration of Independence:
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Brent B
Laws can be changed, Constitutional Rights need to be amended.
Mark B.
Guns are what stands between Freedom and Tyranny.
Guns are not the problem, lack of respect for human life is the problem! Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. The deterioration of societal values increases the chance of tyranny. Because weak people will turn to government for solutions which leads to control of the people.
I will take Freedom everyday.
Typical liberal mantra… if I don’t agree with some thing even if it’s in a state possibly far away from my own home, I will have a tantrum and threaten to boycott and stomp away like an angry toddler
Yes, when fascists take over, you do tend to want to leave.
I think the vote in Kansas proved this is not a liberal thing. Kansas is as Red of a state as Red states come, maybe even more so than Indiana. I think Republicans have skewed so far to the right that this only looks like a liberal issue.
It has been used by Republicans as propaganda tool since the 1970’s. Before that it was only an issue with devoutly catholic voters. The propaganda has been so successful that the Republicans are in lose lose situation. Anything less than a total ban will alienate the hard core anti-abortion group. Banning abortion will alienate the 60% that didn’t think they had to worry the issue because the courts decided women had “equal protection under the law”, that is until Christain Nationalist packed the supreme court.
The Overton window has shifted so far to the right that anything less than hardcore right-wing fundamentalism is perceived as liberalism.
Why do I care about a convention of gamers??? Really this is what Indy has come to??? What a joke. You would think the high crime near the venues in Indy would be a bigger concern……I guess not with that crowd.
Because those 70,000 gamers bring in an estimated $65M-$70M to the city each year?
I guess you’ll reimburse the local economy for the $75 million it will lose annually? Glad you’re stepping up, Clark.
I get an extra $500 in my pocket from just one weekend airbnb rental because Gencon is in town. I care.
Living downtown, I don’t have any idea what you are talking about when it comes to crime. I suspect you are just ignorant of the crime stats for your area. As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.
I wish I could downvote your INCESSANT race-baiting comments in these message boards, Clark. How many times can you try to convince people THAT LIVE HERE about the “high crime” we should be OUTRAGED over. Absolute joke man.
Since IBJ is centered around business, it seems that this is a particularly relevant article. Regardless of how one feels about abortion or the regulation of it, the economic impact of losing a convention of this size would be significant. Legislators and the public (voters) should understand that cost before they make a decision. A “don’t let the door hit your bottom on the way out” attitude ignores the real economic pain that would be felt by those left behind.
By the way Lauren, I’ve seen a homeless individual defecating on a downtown sidewalk here in Indy. In respect to the homeless, making a joke of it to make your point seems a bit raw. There are safe places in major west coast cities and in some urban and rural areas of Illinois. We’ve had some major safety issues of our own (not just “those” people and not just downtown). Losing folks and economic activity to safer places with more freedom from government involvement in personal decisions is a real economic threat. It is that economic threat that IBJ has a legitimate interest in reporting on as it affects business. Not just a liberal or ideological thing. Just business.
“Lauren” doesn’t see the homeless as people. “She” is a propaganda bot, so don’t be too surprised.
Still the same “Lauren”, Charles.
Fascism is centralized government, authoritarian, collectivistic, and predicated on redistribution. It works better in rich countries than communism does because they have a middle class and the mechanics of fascism help convince the bourgeois that THEY are the oppressed ones. Exactly what we see throughout the West. Fascism also creates the illusion of a functioning marketplace so it doesn’t destroy economies (i.e., the bourgeois get to stay comfy)–it replaces it with an entrenched public-private cartel where they partner and destroy both small-business competition and political dissidents (where are often one and the same).
Fascism is and always has been 90% left-wing Charles. It’s one of the great ruses to equate fascism with right-wingery. A certain Austrian Painter was thoroughly entrenched in labor unions and deeply admired Marx before he really made it big. But then, Fascism is Marxism with a racial (or religious, or ethnic) wedge to replace the class struggle.
Charles, I see the homeless as crime-ridden junkies, which is what 98% of the chronically homeless are. They need help, but that doesn’t mean free needles. They need to be institutionalized so they can come clean. They screwed up in life and will drag everyone else down to the gutter if you enable them.
I think this is the point where you tell me what a racist I am. C’mon, I know you wanna! 🙂
Just an FYI, Laura. That painter you mentioned had a far more complicated relationship with Karl Marx and the Manifesto than you imply – he was very, very far from left-wing ideology and socialized economies (later on in life, his hatred of Communism is well-documented). You’re correct in that Fascist ideologies aren’t exclusive to just the political right-wing, but the right-wing movements of the 20th Century were broadly Fascist. But, in your description, you mixed ideology and economy, which are different. Fascism isn’t defined by collectivism and redistribution, that’s a socialized economy. Fascism is an ideology and rarely tied to economic structures. One could state that Russia, which is very capitalist, is also Fascist. At the same time, North Korea, which is Communist, is also Fascist (dictator-ruled with a strict social hierarchy and severe punishment for straying from social norms).
You fabricated your statistic about the homeless population.
You’ve fabricated multiple statistics in other threads and that makes me question your trustworthiness.
The Gen Con leaders love dead babies. Got it. What else is new?
Gen Con is enforcing a vaccine mandate and mask mandate even though the SCAMDEMIC is over.
This is the kind of comment that would be removed from Facebook for violating standards about misinformation, based on the term “Scamdemic.” If you really believe the pandemic has been a scam, please check in with the families of the roughly 24,000 Hoosiers who have died of COVID, according to official Indiana state records (so don’t try to claim that is a made-up liberal media number). As long as we’re talking about pro-life topics, most of those 24,000 Hoosiers would still be alive today if not for the pandemic that you believe didn’t actually happen. And, it is not “over,” either. Infections are still happening in large numbers. Deaths are down significantly (though there were still four Hoosiers who died in the past week of COVID). As long as we allow the virus to circulate unchecked, we run the risk of new variants. At some point, we may be unlucky enough to encounter a variant that causes more severe illness again.
“We at Gen Con believe in the right to autonomy over our bodies and the right to choose.” Yet they are forcing people to be vaccinated to attend. What hypocrites.
Those who would otherwise attend Gencon still have bodily autonomy to choose not to be vaccinated. Your point does not line up at all with someone who is pregnant being stripped of bodily autonomy to terminate the pregnancy.
It lines up perfectly, Dave. If you support authoritarianism over vaccines, you cannot claim to support liberty. And your arguments for bodily autonomy ring hollow. If a person is forced to choose poverty or a vaccine, it is coercion.
Pregnancy isn’t a passive condition. 98% of pregnancies occur through voluntary activity. And even the most hard-line right-wing anti-abortion laws are still getting shot down when they fail to make exceptions for rape and incest or when the woman’s life is threatened.
The behavior of the Branch-Covidian left this last year really helped sapped my sympathy for their arguments, but I’m firm in thinking abortion should be legal for the first trimester and should still have lots of other provisions in dire situations. Those dire situations are extremely rare, because most abortions are elective (over 90%).
It’s a private event, not the government. You still have bodily autonomy and have the ability to make that choice, there are just consequences for your actions.
If I ask you to take off your shoes when you enter my house and you refuse, then I would ask you to not come in. That’s not “forcing” you to take off your shoes, that is you making an active choice to not take off your shoes and then being confronted with the consequences. There is no alignment there.
Crime out of control in Indy. We need repeat offender reform. Not sure how you can miss it.
Why do we still think mass incarceration would work when it has failed us for the past half-century?
I’ve heard it’s Indiana’s wealthiest group event. They sell out the hotels, Airbnb… and the Uber and Lyft fees get outrageous during this event. It’s a big money maker for the City. My son goes every year the participants spend some serious money inside and here in Indianapolis. I think people and organizations should always vote with their pocket book.
Aside from the abortion issue did anyone notice they are requiring masks AND proof of vaccination. Why at this point should you have to show vaccination proof? I thought we have learned it doesn’t prevent you from getting or spreading the virus, but I guess it shows your allegiance to the cause and your political affiliations. No thanks!
We are in year three and people still don’t understand what a vaccination does.
The hypocrisy of crying “my body, my choice…except on vaccines and masks.”
You’re right Brad–they don’t know because we keep moving the goalposts.
If our quadruple-vaxxed President gets COVID twice in the space of several weeks (still not sure why this isn’t “Long COVID”), then the vaccines simply aren’t very good at all.
They might still be better than nothing for seniors or the morbidly obese. But for everyone else…why?
No other vaccination has benefited from this infantry of media/medical defense while showing such lousy results. And let’s not get started about the unintended side effects (don’t want to get banned!). It’s almost like there’s an entrenched collaboration between the pharmaceutical companies and government entities…but I’m sure the fact that execs from Pfizer and Merck and J&J (and probably Eli Lilly) fill the executive boards of FDA and NIH…pure coincidence, of course.
We would could never eradicate smallpox, if it were an issue in the modern era, thanks to individuals who think they know more than virologists and doctors.
Doesn’t which position you have on abortion, Gen Con leaves Indy, would start a ripple affect and you’ll see more conventions and businesses threatening to leave or actually leave. States, counties and cities are ran like Fortune 500 companies and at the end of the day its about generating cash flow and being competitive with peer cities. Indiana is already behind the 8 ball to other cities like Nashville and Kansas City. Besides conventions and sporting events, what other reasons would someone from California or Florida come to Indiana for? So as I stated earlier, no matter your position on abortion, Indy losing any major convention or company to this abortion bill would be devastating to Indy’s tourism. I doubt Indy could rebound from it
Why would they move to Nashville or Kansas City? Both of these states have stricter abortion laws than Indiana already on the books.
Dear Liberals and Liberal IBJ – love the threats and hate that you spew. It’s been fun but we’ve stopped caring.
#LiberalismIsAmentalDisorder
Bye GenCon, been fun. Also bye liberals, please move. This state would be better off without you.
Lol, your economy would tank. Indiana is already on the verge of being in the ranks with Mississippi and Alabama.
We are a stiff, stupid, uncaring, uncompassionate red state. This stupid law will lose a lot of money for the state. abortion should be on demand anytime in first trimester and SCOTUS should not be a Catholic/Christian nationalist branch of govt. How about a little gun control? That will stop deaths. Ps, i agree with Kevin P .
Move to a state where they show “compassion” through overrun squalid homeless encampments, needle exchanges, and their homeless shelters are filled with illegals just waiting to get processed so they can get run through the corporate ringer and paid under the table by corrupt employers (usually neo-con or neo-lib).
Back when I leaned left, I thought conservatives were “mean”. But after seeing the aftermath of leftism in urban cesspools, it’s obvious that their compassion is all talk and has no real tangible results. They enable the most horrible and depraved behavior, call it virtue, and wipe their hands of it until it begins to creep into their front yards. “Well, I didn’t mean THAT welcome!” Then they call the police.
There is no “Christian nationalism” in a country that is the most religiously pluralistic in the world, and where even Christian denominations are splitting off every few weeks. You’re just neck deep in ideology, Sam. Not in the “middle in the least”. Go riot with your AntiFA friends.
Dear Tom, moat people are in the middle; socially liberal and fiscally conservative. The US is meant to be a pluralistic society. the state would actually be better off without you .
for pro lifers: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=george+carlin+on+abortion&&view=detail&mid=84A0D798728299905A6684A0D798728299905A66&rvsmid=67898C6BE12AE8D66AD467898C6BE12AE8D66AD4&FORM=VDRVRV
Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out. Our principles and morals are not for sale, especially not to some gamer nerds.
“Our”? I’ll speak and think for myself. Thanks anyway Dominic.
When did we all lose the ability to discuss without insulting and name calling? I thought the subscribers of this news outlet might be a bit more respectful and diplomatic.
I truly appreciate good arguments on both sides … it’s how I learn and understand.
C’mon, I really think we’re better than this.
No Mary Ann we live in self absorbed world that is tolerant until there is dissension.
My way or the highway mentality.
We are living it times where right is wrong and wrong is right, where dark is light and light is dark.
And where hypocrisy prevails in automy over your body for abortion but not vaccines.
Over and over we hear the canard of “over 60% of Americans favor abortion.” It drops under 50% when you ask them past 13 weeks, past 26 weeks, or full term partial birth abortion where they sever the spine and suck the parts out, which by-the-way the Democrat party platform espouses.
So why not pass a 12 week ban then, reducing almost in half from Indiana’s current 22 weeks standard? I mean, I know why. 99% of abortions in Indiana take place in the first 12 weeks per Indiana Right to Life.
Why is all the focus on abortion laws and not lowering Indiana’s awful infant and maternal mortality rates with real funding increases? Without fixing the mortality problem, all an abortion law will result in (statistically) is more dead babies and more dead moms. The $55 million dollar funding increase, IMO, isn’t nearly enough.
Maybe it’s not really about abortion or babies.
Well Joe B most peopple would be fine with a 13 week ban, which is what most countries have, especially Europe. Yet the Democrats push for abortion on demand up through full term, as they have in China and North Korea. Hmmmm
So Dominic, if most people (including myself) would be fine with a 13 week ban, then why is the GOP pushing for a ban after conception? Why are they so out of touch with voters? You’re railing against the Democrats, but the GOP are the one’s trying to pass a radical bill.
Indiana Senate Democrats tried to turn the current proposal into an abortion ban after 20 and 15 weeks. Both are reductions from the current 22 week prohibition.
I believe all Democrats present voted yes on both proposals. Both were defeated 33-13 in the Senate by Republicans.
http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2022ss1/bills/senate/1#document-c26694df
The Democrats are where the majority of people are on abortion in Indiana. I knows that’s very uncomfortable for people to acknowledge but it’s the reality. Are there liberals on the coasts who feel differently? Sure. But they’re not here in Indiana.
I mean, show me the Indiana Democrat either in office or running for office pushing for abortion by choice in the third trimester. I haven’t found one yet. They may exist, I can’t find them.
The initial case that started all of this was Mississippi instituted a ban on abortions after 15 weeks and the liberals fought it like crazy. Now people on here are saying that they are okay with no abortions after 12 weeks. Maybe the left should have agreed to the 15 week ban and they wouldn’t be in this situation.
Well………..bye
Lots of dog whistling in the comments section today.
The hypocrisy of Gen Con to maintain autonomy over one’s body for abortion, but attendees must be vaccinated tells you everything you need to know.
The definition of “Peace” or “Tolerance ” is you believe as we do or you are dead to us.
More intolerance from the tolerant left.
Absolutely. I despise the sanctimony of the hard-line religious right but they have little to no institutional power. All the institutions veer heavily left and continue spewing out propaganda like this article. Gen-Con and IBJ–one hand washes the other.
Since the US is increasingly likely to devolve into “the Troubles” in the next few years ahead, with fear of bombings and mass shootings preventing any large scale gatherings, Gen-Con may not be much longer for this world.
Nope. You’re wrong.
Making an active choice to not be vaccinated and then dealing with the consequences of the inaction isn’t being “forced.” You don’t have a right to enter a private event on your own terms just because you feel entitled to do so.
Bye, Bye, GenCon!
Thank you while it lasted!
Two things to note here.
1. Gencon is currently involved in contract negotiations at this time. And much like the RFRA ordeal, they intend to use this in their arsenal to get more favorable terms. Last time they got massive reductions in leasing the ICC, favorable terms on Lucas, Tax exemptions for several years as well as other off sets.
2. Gencon is very hypocritical in their stance. They start off by stating “We at Gen Con believe in the right to autonomy over our bodies and the right to choose.” Yet to attend their convention, you must give up your right to choose, and any autonomy over your body when it comes to being vaccinated against covid.