Ask yourself WHY the proposed law would shut down nearly every abortion clinic in Texas
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 26, 2013
Can you imagine the unbridled fury that would erupt if pro-life demonstrators created chaos in a state capitol building and made it impossible for the presiding officer to sign a bill expanding access to abortion—a law that had been duly approved by the legislators? That’s what happened in Texas last night, except that it was pro-abortion demonstrators who scuttled a pro-life law, so the media nods quietly in approval.
There’s another respect in which the mainstream media coverage of the Texas story has been remarkably skewed. Most attention has been focused on the fact that the bill that would ban late-term abortions. But with public opinion solidly in favor of such a ban, reporters have pointed to other provisions of the legislation, and noted with apparent horror (as in this AP story) that “the measures would have closed almost every abortion clinic in Texas.”
What are those measures? Several paragraphs down, the AP story informs us:
The bill would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy and force many clinics that perform the procedure to upgrade their facilities and be classified as ambulatory surgical centers. Also, doctors would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles — a tall order in rural communities.
So let’s see: The law would require abortion clinics to pass muster as ambulatory surgical centers, since what they do is ambulatory surgery. And since sometimes things go wrong in surgery, the doctors would be required to have admitting privileges at a hospital within a reasonable distance. Applied to any other medical procedure, these rules would seem perfectly logical, reasonable, prudent exercises of regulatory oversight. But when abortion is in question, prudent oversight is abandoned.
Look at it this way: The AP story lets us know that most Texas abortion clinics are not approved surgical facilities, and most abortionists are not prepared to have women admitted to nearby hospitals in case of an emergency. Incredibly, the people defending this status quo say they’re interested in preserving women’s health!
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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Posted by: nix898049 -
Jan. 29, 2018 1:40 PM ET USA
The Catholic Church was able to get folks to heaven from day one. Without the written scripture, developed, promulgated dogma, canon law, etc, and it still can. It's just that we need 'to know what we know'. I had a poster of the big blue marble on my dorm room wall in '73. Fabulous perspective restorer.
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Posted by: begnoche7263 -
Jan. 27, 2018 3:51 PM ET USA
I think this perspective is why we are in the situation currently. The USCCB is currently working on implementing A.L. in the U.S. and you will see its errors spread across our Church. When we are being attacked from without, all seem to agree that we should stand courageously and defend the faith, but for some reason when we are attacked from within, well just keep silent and keep the faith. That is why Modernism is taking such a hold on Catholicism.
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Jun. 28, 2013 5:28 PM ET USA
Let's not forget that my state senator, Donna Campbell, was first chair on this bill. She is both a woman and an emergency room doc, and so is constantly prepared to deal with the aftermath of these butchers' "procedures." She's also a freshman senator and defeated one of the most pro-abortion Republicans in the state, from a third-place start!
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Posted by: Ken_H -
Jun. 26, 2013 9:05 PM ET USA
It is truly amazing how everyone turns a blind eye to ALL of the horrors of abortion - the killing of the innocent, and the outright lack of reasonable protections for those who do seek to have this "procedure" performed. Not to mention all of the other follow-on effects. And as you say, "They're interested in preserving women's health".
