Kansas legislators are reviewing their late-term abortion law which was designed to curb the number of abortions done after 21 weeks. (Via ifeminists).
It wasn't the criminal trial abortion opponents had hoped for, but a legislative committee on Thursday allowed them to air a case against Wichita abortion provider George Tiller that was tossed out of court last year.
Anti-abortion groups also staged a small rally during a lunch break. About 40 people marched to the building that houses Attorney General Paul Morrison's office, chanting for him to enforce a 1998 state law restricting late-term abortions and to resign for not being vigorous enough in prosecuting Tiller.
Morrison has filed 19 misdemeanors against Tiller in Sedgwick County, alleging the Wichita doctor didn't obtain a second opinion on late-term abortions from an independent physician, as required by the law.
Many abortion foes say Tiller, one of a few U.S. doctors performing late-term abortions, should be prosecuted instead for performing such procedures for "trivial" reasons, not medical emergencies. Morrison's predecessor, Phill Kline, brought such a case in December, only to see it dismissed for jurisdictional reasons.
The legislative committee reviewed a DVD recording of an interview with abortion opponents' star witness, who said the mental health problems Tiller saw in patients couldn't justify aborting viable fetuses...
"This is just another attempt to dredge up the dismissed case peddled by Phill Kline," said attorney Dan Monnat. "Dr. Tiller has fought for years to protect the privacy of the women's medical files. It's sad that once again, these women have to continue to wonder whether the content of their files is going to be exploited for political gain."
I find it difficult to understand why any woman would be "wondering" about their medical files if, as the Pandagonistas say, it's just a 20-minute procedure. I mean, if legislators are investigating, say the efficacy of mammograms and legislating such, I don't mind them seeing my medical records. In fact, there's nothing in my medical records that would cause me shame. I wonder why, if there's no moral component, women wouldn't be more forthcoming about their abortions. After all, that's the point of the Ms. Magazine campaign to have women celebrate their abortions.
The fact is, abortion is virtually always something women feel ashamed about. Not because Teh Patriarchy is keeping them down, but because women know it is ending a human life, however tenuous. I've had several friends who have had abortions--some for better, more acceptable reasons than others--but none of them considered it "a 20-minute procedure." Maybe when the pro-abortion side is more honest about what happens to most women--that it is an emotionally painful and scarring experience--then they might have more people agree with them.
On the other hand, maybe the Pandagonistas are being honest when they callously describe abortion as "no big deal." But as I said in the original post, that's why they are the face of abortion rights that NARAL and NOW don't want you to see.
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