Leftists: Abortion On Demand Is Totally About Women’s Health, Ya Know!

by William Teach | October 14, 2014 9:35 am

This is a subject that I usually try to avoid, much like Neil Boortz avoided it on his radio show before his retirement. It’s usually turns extremely nasty, among other reasons. But, when something like this article crops up, wowser!

In Texas and across the nation, abortion access a sign of women’s well-being[1]

Got that? Contributors Andrea Flynn and Shulie Eisen, both obviously ladies on the far left, think that abortion is about the well being of women. Because nothing screams “well-being” like having a medical procedure in a facility with fewer safeguards than at a veterinarian clinic.

Last week’s decision by New Orleans’s Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate Texas House Bill 2 (HB2) — the omnibus abortion bill responsible for closing 80 percent of the abortion clinics in Texas — is perhaps the most devastating attack we have seen on reproductive health and rights across the nation. Supporters of HB2 insist they are simply acting in the best interest of women’s health, but in reality do little to address rampant socioeconomic inequities and injustices facing their constituents. This isn’t surprising, given a new report[2] by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and Ibis Reproductive Health that shows states with the most abortion restrictions also have the fewest policies to actually support women and families.

So, why are the abortion facilities closing?

HB2 was originally passed last year and requires all abortion facilities to operate as ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) and abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges within 30 miles of where they practice. Attorney General Greg Abbott (the Texas Republican gubernatorial candidate running against Democratic State Sen. Wendy Davis, who filibustered for 11 hours last summer in opposition to the bill) has been a steadfast supporter of HB2 and was quick to celebrate[3] last week. “This decision is a vindication of the careful deliberation by the Texas Legislature to craft a law to protect the health and safety of Texas women,” he said.

We’ve seen the same complaints in North Carolina and other states, where abortion facilities are required to act like medical facilities, instead of body shops extracting an engine. One would think that abortionistas would be thrilled by government requirements for safety, alas, no. They are also Very Upset over requirements for state inspections of abortion facilities. No. Seriously. These kinds of things drive abortionistas bat guano insane. These same types of people want the federal government heavily involved in our health care and health insurance decisions, they want the government controlling decisions by college kids over when they can have sex, but any reasonable restrictions and requirements when it comes to aborting a baby? Nope.

There are no two ways about it: HB2 was designed to eliminate abortion access in Texas, and it is succeeding. Last year, the state had 41 abortion clinics and today it has eight..

Which should tell you exactly how many clinics had the same medical capabilities of a PetsMart.

Despite these facts, lawmakers have chosen to spend their time and money restricting women’s health options, leaving more than 1 million [4]Texas women to travel 300 miles round-trip to access a constitutionally protected health service (some women will need to travel more than 1,000 miles).

I can’t find it in my copy of the Constitution. Can you? Funny how the people on the same side as abortion on demand are typically all for not just restricting, but doing away with all 2nd Amendment Rights.

We must address each of these issues, and so many more, if we are to improve the health and lives of U.S. women and their families. After all, as Melanie Zurek of Provide has said[5], “abortion will not offer a day of childcare for a neighbor or a ride to the clinic[;] it will not reach out a supportive hand, or vote, or provide itself.” But we know that without access to affordable and safe abortion, in addition to the full range of reproductive health services, other interventions will be meaningless. What is the value of other freedoms if women do not have the right and ability to make informed decisions about their bodies and the most intimate parts of their lives?

And boom, there it is, aborting a baby is about “health”.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove[6]. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach[7].