Wendy Davis during her filibuster over the Texas Abortion Law. Source: The Dallas Morning News
I’ve followed this whole Texas abortion law fight with interest almost since the law was signed into law back in 2013. The law requires doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals in order to perform abortions. Also, the clinics themselves have to meet the clinical and physical requirements of ambulatory centers in order to remain open.
While the surface view gives the appearance that Texas cares about the health care of pregnant women, the view changes entirely when you peek below the surface. To combat the abortion clinics, anti-abortion groups have used the tactic of opening pregnancy crisis centers to counsel women and talk them out of having abortions. The rise in numbers of those centers in Texas gives away the entire smoke and mirrors game that Texas is trying to pull on its citizens.
The reason why I can opine such a thing with great confidence is laid bare inside an article written by Aljazerra America.
A McAllen Pregnancy Center counselor reached by phone told Al Jazeera that the center does not employ a doctor because the ultrasounds it conducts aren’t for diagnostic purposes but for “seeing the baby.” Medical experts, like the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and the ACOG, take a dim view of such practices. They warn that women could be falsely reassured about their health or that of their fetus, and if abnormalities are discovered, there’s no guarantee that pregnant women will receive the follow-up care they need.
Though it might not be obvious to Betsy that she isn’t receiving medical treatment, the McAllen Pregnancy Center isn’t behaving like a rogue operator. Unlike abortion clinics, sandwich shops and nail salons, crisis-pregnancy centers in Texas don’t have to comply with state or federal safety standards. The state health department does not inspect the clinics, not even the ones that offer ultrasounds and call themselves pregnancy medical clinics. (The McAllen Pregnancy Center doesn’t call itself a medical clinic because it says its ultrasounds are nondiagnostic.) Even the Texas Medical Board, which is responsible for the good conduct of licensed physicians, shrugs at its doctors’ activities. It doesn’t require physicians to report where they serve as medical directors, and it investigates only if someone files a complaint. So far, no one has.
Such a laissez-faire climate means that anyone can set up shop and call it a pregnancy medical clinic. The anti-abortion powerhouse National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) sees this as a ripe business opportunity. As NIFLA says on its website, “Ultrasound opens a window to the womb where the mother is first introduced to her unborn child. By allowing this connection to happen, medical (clinics) experience dramatic increases in the percentages of their patients that choose life.”
Source: Aljazerra America
Check the highlighted and underlined portions if you missed them. These clinics offer pregnancy counseling and even sonograms, and they openly acknowledge it’s not for purposes related to the actual medical assessment or course of treatment for pregnant women. It’s basically to shame them into not having an abortion. Furthermore, the state knows these clinics are using medical equipment in a setting that gives the appearance of being a licensed medical facility, when there are no regulations they have to abide by. At the same time, they’re regulating the hell out of the clinics that actually provide medical services. What the f**k kind of sense does that make?
If I were to go buy some medical equipment and counsel people into not having medical procedures, I’d be quickly arrested for practicing medicine without a license. If I do the same thing to talk women out of having an abortion, then I’m a hero to some. I don’t see how that makes any sense. I also don’t see how such a disparity in law and regulations can exist with courts calling this crap constitutional. There’s no way in hell this is constitutional.
Now, before you anti-abortion people decide to label me a baby killer or whatever other name you like, consider that I just brought home my third child from the hospital yesterday. I personally don’t believe in abortion, but I also respect the fact that people have the right to seek medical treatments that have been upheld as constitutional, even if I don’t agree with them. The fact that I don’t agree with having them is not enough to warrant trampling the rights of others who may see things differently from me.
I feel that abortion is a decision between the parents and their doctors, and the rest of America should stay the hell out of someone’s personal business. If you were not part of the creation or funding of the pregnancy, then you don’t have a dog in any decision made in regards to that pregnancy. If we allow outsiders to invade the doctor/patient privilege when it comes to abortion, who’s to say that some other medical procedure won’t be attacked the same way in the future. I might love and respect you all, but I’ll be damned if I allow anyone outside my family get involved with my personal medical decisions.
As for the Supreme Court decision, I say bravo!!! Let’s end this underhanded crap once and for all. If anti-abortion people feel so convinced their cause is right and true, then quit hiding your intentions behind bogus laws such as this one. Simply legislate what you wish to do, make abortions disappear. I’ll give you a hint on how to do it. It’s called education. Give people access to education on all aspects of health care so they can make the proper decisions BEFORE they get pregnant. You can’t have an abortion if you don’t get pregnant. Contrary to popular belief, abstinence-only education doesn’t work. People are going to screw, so you may as well educate them on how to do it without creating a life in the process.
The Mind of Brosephus 
The problem is, only a portion of the pro-life movement is pro-life in that that’s what motivates them. Of that portion, a sizable number are unalterably opposed to any kind of birth control. They have deep, conservative religious views — whether Catholic, Orthodox Judaism, Protestant fundamentalist, or whatever — that people should not make serious efforts to influence the course of their lives. They should be forever on the lookout for signs from God (in whatever form) regarding His plan for their lives and they should follow that plan.
The rest of the anti-choice movement uses protecticting life as a cover, but that’s not their true motivation. They believe it’s wrong for other people to have sex. They particularly think it’s wrong for women to have sex, and they feel pregnancy is an appropriate punishment. They are opposed to birth control because people shouldn’t be having sex in the first place, and women should certainly be punished for it if they do. They aren’t interested in hearing about the medical cases, or rape and incest, or even the number of married mothers who have abortions because their family lacks the resources (money, time or energy) for another child. The issue to this group is sex and punishment.
Between the God’s Plan group and the Pregnancy as Punishment group, there aren’t enough people left in the pro-life movement to advocate for sex education or easy access to birth control. For the most part, the people like you who dislike abortion but don’t believe in forcing beliefs on others, the people who look for family planning methods that don’t involve abortion, are outside the pro-life movement.
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True. You will never hear me claim to be pro-life as long as the idiots control the microphone. I prefer to acknowledge myself as being pro-freedom.
There’s absolutely nothing forcing me or my wife to consider abortion. There’s nothing out in the world pressuring women to have abortions either.
We all have the same freedom to make the medical decision for ourselves without the government or any other people getting involved.
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Ever so much more politely put than I ever could.
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Well, I do have to protect my employment. 🙂
If not for that, I could have really channeled the ABM.
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