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Nebraska Introduces Bill
to Ban Web-Cam Abortions Part Three of Five By Dave Andrusko You don't have to read Planned Parenthood's latest annual report, or keep track of numerous news stories from around the country to know that fattening PPFA's bottom line is tied up with multiplying the number of chemical abortions, clinic consolidation, and web-cam abortions. All three have come together in the Midwest--specifically Iowa--and Nebraska knows it could easily be next.
Nebraska state Senator Tony Fulton has introduced a bill that requires abortionists to be physically present with a woman when she is undergoing a RU-486 abortion. This is not the case in Iowa where the abortionist (who could be hundreds of miles away) dispenses 'advice' via a video conferencing system--"webcam abortions"--before electronically opening a drawer which contains the mifepristone and misoprostol. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland offers web-cam abortions in 16 Iowa locations. RU-486 has long been likened to taking a few "pills," as if a woman were taking a few Tylenol. But in fact, at least 11 women worldwide have died after taking the two drugs and at least 1,000 have suffered serious complications (see http://www.nrlc.org/Factsheets/FS07_RU486.pdf). Not having the abortionist physically present can pose a real threat, if the woman experiences complications. If you read between the lines in a story that appeared in the Nebraska Journal Star earlier this week, you'll learn a great deal about where Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is heading. Bear in mind that PP of the Heartland "serves Nebraska, 86 counties in Iowa and three in Illinois," according to the Journal Star. For starters, it is following the now familiar pattern of consolidating clinics. In December PP of the Heartland signed a contract with Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa "that would, in effect, merge the two entities into one," reports Kurt Ulltrich of the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. For another, while the Journal Star story concludes that PP of the Heartland "apparently has no immediate plans to offer the service in Nebraska," that sentiment does not come from the lips of Jill June, executive director of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. Small wonder, then, that Fulton told the Journal Star, "Before they have the opportunity to do it (in Nebraska), we'd like to enact this law." But there are more ominous nuances in the story. "At the clinic appointment, the patient would meet with a medical assistant or nurse practitioner and have an ultrasound, a medical examination and tests." However, according to Julie Schmit-Albin, Executive Director of Nebraska RTL, "We have already learned from hearings held around our ultrasound bill that they have less stringent standards on who does ultrasounds than do our Crisis Pregnancy Centers." Schmit-Albin said she could "easily envision circuit rider 'medical personnel' going from one remote site to another." Webcam abortions greatly extends the abortionist's reach, particularly into rural areas. Instead of driving hundreds of miles to abort one or two women, the abortionist can in one day facilitate the abortions of dozens of women. "If Planned Parenthood of the Heartland can get this scheme to take off in large geographical rural states, it will introduce chemical abortions in areas that have never had to deal with an abortion clinic in their backyard," Schmit-Albin said. "Web-cam medicine should be about healing, not harming." Please send your comments on Today's News & Views and National Right to Life News Today to daveandrusko@gmail.com. If you like, join those who are following me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daveha. |
