Virginia’s assault on women
The state seeks to learn the identities of patients visiting abortion clinics, a breach of women’s privacy
New regulations about to become reality in Virginia would allow government agents to demand a list of every woman visiting an abortion clinic — even if she changes her mind. The rules, expected to be adopted today by the Virginia Board of Health, are even more shocking, appalling and intimidating than lawmakers’ scuttled plan to require pre-abortion probes of women’s vaginas.
Under proposed permanent regulations, government “inspectors” will have the power to demand a year’s worth of patient lists from women’s health clinics that perform abortions. The state collects data in the aggregate on medical procedures, but names, addresses and phone numbers are not collected for other treatments, including for infectious diseases. There is no reason for the government to read an individual’s medical chart or to have a seat in a patient examination room, yet Virginia officials are granting themselves this right.
June 15, 2012 - 6:12 AM
Don’t you get it, RTEB, this is for the health and safety of the woman. It has NOTHING AT ALL to do with a right-wing agenda. The GA has nothing but genuine concern for women.
One does have to wonder how this guy could say this with a straight face:
Regulators did not consider during their rule-making an allowance for abortion centers to obtain independent accreditation. Bodin said he did not recall it being considered and could offer no explanation as to why the centers weren’t treated the same as other facilities
I vote to make abortions illegal.
OK gdad,
If providing lists of patients visiting abortion clinics is for the safety of the patients (even if they don’t have a procedure), then I know you’ll agree that the state has the same right to demand lists of patrons visiting gun shops- for their own safety.
gdad, it’s not only here. Take a look at Michigan for example where the House banned their own members from the floor for using the medically correct terms for body parts. Of course, it was women speaking out so that makes it OK. Guess which party controls the House there?
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/06/14/vaginas-must-be-republican-kryptonite/
Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield), a member of the Michigan House, spoke out against a handful of anti-abortion bills being considered by House Republicans on Wednesday.
One of the points she wanted to make was that she has religious beliefs about abortion, too, but she doesn’t pass legislation in favor of those beliefs. Republicans/Christians ought to do the same.
….The Republicans didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, Brown made a perfectly fine argument that they had no response to… but, on the other hand, SHE SAID THE DIRTY “V” WORD!
So they responded by banning her from the House floor today:
….That wasn’t enough, either. Another female House member, Barb Byrum, tried to introduce an amendment to the abortion regulations bill that would stop men from getting vasectomies unless their life was in danger. Kind of like what the men are doing to the women.
So the Republicans banned her, too.
And then they passed the anti-abortion bill by a vote of 70-39. Every Republican and six Democrats voted in favor of it…..
Hmm..the government wanting medical information. I wonder how that happened.
Next thing you know the state will want to sterilize these women to protect public health. Oh wait, they have already done that before. here we go again.
@3 Noel, I think gdad was being sarcastic.
@5 Henry, we elected Republicans? (although the government at all levels and businesses want far too much of our personal information in general).
#2, thank goodness the Supreme Court of The United States disagrees with you.
gdad, just so I can pretend that you have at least an ounce of sanity, name for me one other case where a routine medical procedure requires a medically unnecessary step (and the patient is required to pay for it out of their own pocket) and a waiting period.
Please.
Why not the same deal for vasectomies?
Sometimes, I hate being right.