Wisconsin governor vetoes abortion bill
It would be reckless to inject a requirement that doctors communicate unproven science to their patients during an already difficult and sometimes traumatic time. This bill intrudes on the doctor-patient relationship … and contravenes the requirement that doctors provide objective and accurate information to their patients.
- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle
It would be the easiest thing in the world for a politician like Jim Doyle to pander to the lowest common denominator. It’s not as if the state of Wisconsin makes it easy for women to have abortions, with their “You just be a good girl and go home and think about it” rule. Women requsting abortions are required to be given information on alternatives to ending their pregnancies, and then they must wait 24 hours before having the procedure performed…as if 24 hours is anything but a thinly veiled attempt by abortion foes to embarrass or shame women into changing their minds.
As with many freedoms, the right to abortion (guaranteed by Roe v. Wade, just in case any of y’all had conveniently forgotten) is not destroyed by hammer blows and frontal assaults. It’s being nibbled to death by dicks…er, ducks. Gradually, ever more onerous requirements are being placed upon women wishing to have an abortion (sure, you can have an abortion, but first you must memorize the Upanishad in the original Sanskrit), and before you know it, Roe v. Wade has been rendered moot.
It’s going to take people like Jim Doyle to stand up to the demagogues and the Wing Nuts and protect the reproductive rights of women…because right now, the Wing Nuts have the political momentum. Even worse, it’s tough to fight a patient enemy willing to nibble around the margins.
MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) - Gov. Jim Doyle on Friday vetoed a bill that would have forced doctors to tell women seeking abortions after their fifth month of pregnancy that their fetuses could suffer pain.
Doyle, a Democrat, said there is no evidence conclusively proving when a fetus can feel pain. The Republican-controlled Legislature should not be allowed to decide scientific fact, he said….
When a fetus can feel pain is a matter of debate in the medical community. The bill’s supporters say some research supports the theory that a fetus can feel pain at the 20th week of pregnancy. Opponents say none of those claims have been proven.
Bob Delaporte, a spokesman for Republican Assembly Speaker John Gard, accused Doyle of “ignoring the science on this one.”
Uh…no, actually Doyle is ignoring the demagoguery, the religiosity, and the posturing that far too many Republicans and anti-abortion activists are guilty of when it comes to ANYTHING involving abortion. In their rush to demonstrate their pro-life anti-choice bonafides, these folks are willing to vote for just about anything that can be argued to be anti-abortion. It doesn’t matter if it has anything to do with scientific or medical accuracy- as long as it scores political points with the Wing Nuts, it’s all good….
Zealotry and demagoguery can be exceedingly difficult to fight. In the case of anti-abortion activists, these folks are in it for the long haul. They may achieve total victory today, tomorrow, or even next year, but unless good and decent people stand up to them, they will eventually emerge victorious…and Roe v. Wade will be reduced to just so many debating points.
This is why politicians like Jim Doyle deserve our support, for without people like Doyle, the Wing Nuts will eventually win. We will wake up one morning to a world in which women no longer control their own body, a world in which women are once again the property of men.
Greetings…and welcome to Saudi America….
