In a recent article, I asked how long it would take the newly elected President to make good on his campaign promises. The answer: 20 days.
Tucked into a budget bill that passed both houses of Congress on Nov. 22 was another bill that denies the withholding of federal funding to any healthcare provider or group that does not offer information on or access to abortion.
I admit that this sounds great at first — hey, fewer doctors and nurses who are pro-life will be forced to choose between their job security and their consciences. That’s good, right? Sure it is. Except for the woman who lives in an area where there is only one healthcare provider… who now can refuse her information on or access to abortion and still keep their federal funding.
In theory, this bill is great, and I mean that sincerely — I don’t want healthcare providers to be forced into doing things they think are immoral. However, I get concerned whenever one person’s moral views impact someone else’s welfare, especially if it’s in a healthcare situation. And in this situation, Dr, X or Administrator Y or Nurse Z’s personal opinions will be effectively making healthcare decisions for women in certain areas of the country: these women will not have information about or access to safe, legal abortions.
The end result of this can only be more unwanted pregnancies carried to term, and therefore more unwanted and possibly neglected children. And more unwanted pregnancies terminated by unsafe means, which often results in infection and maternal death.
It’s a sticky situation when healthcare providers are asked to perform healthcare operations they don’t agree with morally. I’m not saying that every doctor should be forced to perform an abortion a day just because, or that healthcare providers who are pro-life should be forced to offer abortion services. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t know what the solution is here, but I don’t think this bill is it. (too late)
First of all, you can’t ask any doctor to perform an abortion if they’re pro-life. It’s going against everything they think is right. You can’t really count on them giving the best information, either, if they’re pro-life. The whole issue should just be avoided by not throwing an issue someone finds morally despicable into their job description.
Second, we’re talking about abortion here, not heart surgery. If there’s no abortion clinic in your town, guess what? You can drive a bit to find one. Take a plane to any number of cities in the country. It’s not that hard, not that expensive, and you don’t need it done so urgently that every local doctor should be forced into it.
I’m assuming that healthcare provider or group, in this case, does mean the actual caregiver, such as a doctor. If it somehow prohibits them from going elsewhere to get it done, in effect prohibiting it altogether, that’s illegal.
November 30th, 2004, at 8:21 am #I think this shows a trend. They’re not gonna abolish abortion completely, just trim its boundaries heavily until it’s very restricted. And a large part of my thinking goes in that direction. Abortion should be restricted. But not abolished. I don’t want a 16 year old being told by planned parenthood what she should do, regardless of your insistence on their goodwill in not pressuring people into abortion, or that example of the 16 yr old raped by her father. They seem to be there to assist in abortion whenever it seems like there’s going to be an unwanted child. Long term, I wouldn’t have a serious problem with them restricting abortion just to medical threats to the mother, as well as rape or incest. However, as a person whose political beliefs were formed by his mother, I also don’t want to see the return of the coat hangers. So I’m torn.
I don’t see it as a religious issue. What happens to stillborn babies? I’m sure God put into place a system to handle souls that don’t get a chance to develop. At the same time, I have a problem with the “unwanted child” reason to have an abortion. Humanity has always had children for very bad reasons, not the least of which is that they’re cheap labor. We’ve all done that, and it’s still done today in developing nations such as India and China. Pop out a dozen and you’ve got yourself farmhands, or beggars to comb the city, or workers for your little store, or children to go to the sweat shop and bring home some wages for you to use. And yet in the West where we have couples waiting forever to adopt, you have potential children being thrown out? And yes I do believe they have a soul. I just don’t care. Like I said, I’m sure God put a failsafe to loop them back into the birth pool or something.
So I’m not on the side of the “Kill abortion doctors”, but I’m not on the side of the “Kill babies”. Where am I?
December 1st, 2004, at 5:00 pm #