Kansas considers all-in-one anti-abortion bill

The 2012 segment of the Republican crusade against abortion is well under way, and anti-choice lawmakers in Kansas are apparently going for the Trojan approach with a bill that’s packed with scores of dishonest and dangerous policies inspired by other attempts across the country:

A Kansas House committee is scheduled to take up a bill Wednesday that would exempt doctors from malpractice suits if they withheld medical information to prevent an abortion. The measure would also take away tax credits for abortion providers, remove tax deductions for the purchase of abortion-related insurance coverage and require women to hear the fetal heartbeat. The bill includes several provisions, which passed in other states and now face federal lawsuits. The bill would also require women be told about potential breast cancer risks from abortions, even though medical experts discount such a connection.

"This is the largest and most sweeping overhaul we've seen to date," said Sarah Gillooly, public affairs manager for Planned Parenthood of Kansas, a women's health care provider that provides abortion services in some clinics.

Among the most contested provisions of the bill is the section that would exempt a doctor from a medical malpractice suit if a woman claims the physician withheld information about potential birth defects to prevent her from having an abortion. In addition, a woman would not be able to sue if she suffers health damage from a pregnancy as a result of information withheld from her to prevent an abortion. A wrongful death suit could still be filed, however, if the mother died.

The bill includes provisions similar to those found in other state laws now facing federal lawsuits, including Texas' requirement that the mother hear the fetal heartbeat, and Oklahoma's mandate that mothers be told about a potential risk of breast cancer with an abortion. It also would replicate Arizona's provision prohibiting tax deductions for abortion-related groups

The breast cancer warning requirement has been the subject of much debate, since members of the medical community have disproved a link between abortions and an increased risk of breast cancer.

Garbage science? Outright lies? Deliberately tricking women out of the healthcare they need, and then stopping them from seeking justice if they suffer from it? Guilt-tripping rape victims into undergoing additional torment? Bah to all that. Who cares about such silly things as truth and facts (or ethics, empathy, or any shred of reason) when there’s a perfectly good ideological crusade to reduce women to mobile incubators going on?

(via Right Wing Watch)

Tags: Kansas • Republicans • Kansas House of Representatives