Governor to Sign Bill That Bans "Wrongful Birth" Lawsuits

[LiberalHeart]

Governor Bob Taft intends to sign into law a ban on medical malpractice lawsuits that claim a severely disabled child would have been aborted if the underlying genetic disorder had been diagnosed before birth, his spokesman said. Only a handful of other states have similar bans.

More:
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=4675482

[uppityperson]

1. wow, this is an interesting concept.

I am going to have to think about this one for a while, seems to be able to go all sorts of ways.

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. What's to think about?

It's ALL about controlling a woman's body by law.

This is just another small slide sown that slippery slope of destroying Roe v. Wade.


We gals are really considered nothing more than the cattle whores to the slaughter in the eyes of patriarchal culture. And it ain't just America. Women and their rights are still repressed in many places around the globe.

Oprah sez: (paraphrasing)
If you are a woman living in America, you are already living in the best place in the world. :puke:

Yeah...sure women living in western culture nations have a greater opportunity to a better quality life, but dammit! I want women everywhere to no longer be fighting for the right to choose their lives and what they do with their bodies.

[superconnected]

2. Sickening. So if a doctor doesn't believe in abortion

he/she just won't have to tell the parents the child is deformed or has severe problems.

He can't be held liable for not telling them.

I still think this should be the choice of the woman, not the doctor. And I think the doctor should be able to be sued for withholding information.

[superconnected]

3. I said sickening, but actually it's SCARY BEYOND BELIEF

That they would have the power over you - to do things like not tell you you're carrying a medical problem child, is terrifying.

[WildClarySage]

4. From the story:

"Senator Jeff Jacobson said such lawsuits would hurt the legal system by requiring juries to decide if no life at all were better than living with a disorder."

So instead, Senator Jacobson gets to decide that life with any disability of any severity is preferrable, rather than trusting the people (who will be entrusted with the care of the disabled child) with the decision.

Oy.

[rodeodance]

5. this is happening in SD--women not allowed to abort a defective fetus--

[msgadget]

7. A two-fer, they also get to restrict lawsuits

The author of was on NPR last week and the suits, imo, are renamed malpractice suits on behalf of the children. These lawsuits are protecting doctors' liability without curing the underlying problem which, in some of these cases, was inadequate prenatal care and counseling. The parents she spoke with love their children but the cost of their care is physically and financially draining and if it was possible for a physician to know pre-birth, they should have been properly prepared.

Add to that the unwillingness of the fiscal conservative to contribute to the health and well-being of the born it's just...just...contradictory as is the huge push against abortion. It's like, "...we're not going to help you if you get can't afford to raise a healthy or unhealthy child but we're gonna make damned sure you give birth to it anyway." How RIDICULOUS is that, especially considering the total absence of the pro-lifers wading through the muck of Katrina to rescue born babies from the Astrodome.