A while back, in a land far away, something bad happened at a pair of clinics in Pennsylvania, and some people died there. It was pretty horrible. The clinics did not have qualified staff, charged for procedures that were illegal, made millions of dollars on abusing their patients and the system. Pretty much everything that happened at those clinics that shouldn’t have happened was illegal or against existing regulations. The owner of the clinic and others were arrested and charged with several crimes. The system failed in letting this happen, but succeeded in eventually noticing and doing something about it. The clinics ran in poor areas and for this reason may have been under the radar of the MWJS.
This story, which is probably mostly true but also labors under the confusion of hyperbole and political wrappings linked to the whole abortion debate, is being used now in Minnesota to prop up anti-women’s health legislation that is sure to be vetoed by our governor. Legislators admit that nothing even close to this has ever happened in Minnesota, but insist that the legislation addresses things that could happen at any moment. The truth is, the legislation does not address the Pennsylvania issues at all, because they are already addressed by existing statute, regulation, and practice. What happened in Pennsylvania seems to have been a breakdown in the system, not a failure to regulate.
From our local CBS affiliate:
The House measure requires a physician to be in the room when a woman takes an abortion-inducing drug, like RU486. Supporters are calling it a women’s health issue.
“If the argument is that we are going to let women take a drug and all of a sudden this will go away, this is a very serious and dangerous drug and we just don’t want to take this lightly,” said Rep. Joyce Peppin of Rogers.
Huh?
Experts tell us that RU486 does not require this kind of management, and that this legislation is clearly an attempt to step on women’s reproductive and health rights. In an increasingly popular form of legislative stupidity shaming, an amendment was introduced to require the presence of a doctor while a man takes a pill for erectile dysfunction, and that men be required to undergo counseling before being vasectomized.
Having no sense of humor, legislative Republicans defeated those amendments.
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Snirk.
Republicans want to control things – because they all basically believe in a God-construct of some kind – and want to do on to others as their God-construct does on to them !!!!
Control – Control – Control – and when the Republicans can’t control something – why – it’s gotta be the work of the Devil-contruct !!!!!
Unsurprisingly Rep. Joyce Peppin manages to skip the blindingly obvious fact that if RU486 were more freely available then the death(s) in the Pennsylvania case wouldn’t have happened at all.
Besides how does the Pennsylvania case, where RU486 wasn’t used, become any sort of justification for regulating RU486?
Mike.
And also:
makes absolutely no sense at all since in the Pennsylvania case a doctor *was* present. A doctor who has now been charged with murder.
Mike.
Another way to frame things would be –
All Still-births and spontainious miscarriages are – God-induced abortions – from a God that has induced jundreds of 1000s of times the number of abortions than any collection of Human-induced abortions !!!!
Therefore – all hospitals should be required to report all of these God-induced abortions – and all Churches should be required to prey to their God – every day – to STOP causing these God-induced abortions !!!!
Phyllis Kahn, who tried the Viagra amendment, has been doing this for years. Almost 10 years ago, she introduced a “person’s right to know” act that would have required extensive paperwork prior to any act of coitus.
Because they are for smaller government?
Because when legislation concerning men’s bodies is *obviously* silly, satirical and a waste of time, legislation concerning women’s bodies must be treated with the greatest deference and respect for religious freedom and women’s *protection*, donchaknow?