Obama's Plan To Force Abortions on Doctors Is Unethical
by Brian A. Wilkins
3/17/2009
Introduction:
Former President George W. Bush, on his last day in office January 20, enacted the Provider Refusal Rule, which effectively expanded on a 30-year-old law, giving doctors and other medical personnel the right to refuse administering abortions, birth control and other family planning services. The Bush "conscience clause" centers around respecting medical providers' "moral and religious" beliefs. Barack Obama said, as president, he would sign the Freedom of Choice Act during the 2008 Presidential Campaign. The president has since said he will also repeal the Bush "conscience clause." Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) said he would go to jail before performing an abortion under the Obama plan.
This column needs to be prefaced with the fact I believe the term "pro-life" is misogynistic at its core and American men should have very little say in abortion laws (outside of marriage), since we will never know what its like to carry an "unexpected" child. I believe people who try and dictate to women how they HAVE to handle a pregnancy are the same people who tried to keep women in a "taxation without representation" state of being in our country prior to 1920 and the passage of the 19th Amendment.
Though I get really tired of "pro-life" Republicans who are also "pro-war" and "pro-thug police," I have to agree with the GOP and Senator Coburn in part, regarding the President's plan to repeal the "conscience clause." George W. Bush did very little (ok, NOTHING) right in his eight years as president. Though the clause was enacted solely to protect Bush's constituents ("conservatives"), I see little problem with it.
President Obama, since taking office in January, has said his intention is not to force individuals who feel it is morally wrong, to perform abortions or administer birth control. He says he simply wants to clarify the vagueness in Bush's clause and the 30-year-old law protecting individuals from having to administer family planning services.
Our country tries its best to protect our freedoms of speech and religion, and tries (and fails frequently) to respect those who are not Christians, as a vast majority of Americans are. But forcing Catholic hospitals to perform abortions would be like forcing Hindus to eat beef; or forcing Muslims to eat pork; or better yet forcing Christians to participate in Ramadan.
The Freedom of Choice Act should strictly be used as legislation which prohibits any congressional or state interference with the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, and restrict any showboat judges from trying to make or revise laws pertaining to abortion in a courtroom. The Act should also only apply to medical facilities that are funded by federal and/or state money. Women and women alone have the right to do what they want to their bodies, and people who believe abortion is wrong have that right as well. There seems to already be about as happy a medium as we'll get in our country on this issue, so why screw with it?
I would actually gain a little respect for Senator Coburn if the Obama Administration does in fact overturn the "conscience clause" and he follows through on his pledge to go to jail before performing an abortion. Abortion is ultimately an inalienable right of women and also a sin in many non-Protestant churches. Women have a choice and so do doctors. Let's leave it at that.
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