Why Can't We Have an Exemption for the Health of the Mother?
No one who opposes abortion wants to see women's health suffer. Ideally there would be an exemption to the abortion ban if the health of the mother were endangered. Indeed, polls indicate that citizens would prefer such an exemption.
What does "health of the mother" mean though? Remember, common sense has no bearing on the law. When it comes to laws, precedent and past court rulings play a key part in their interpretation.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in "Doe v. Bolton:"
We agree [that] medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors -- physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman's age -- relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.
So if a pregnant woman and her doctor decided that she was too young, or that the pregnancy was "emotionally stressful," then an exemption for the health of the mother could be triggered, resulting in an abortion.
If a pregnant women went to her doctor and said that she had been vomiting in the morning because of her pregnancy, the doctor could decide that was affecting the health of the mother and could then perform a legal abortion.
Common sense says that we should protect pregnant women as much as we want to protect the unborn child, and that if the woman's health is truly endangered--not just inconvenienced--she should have the right to chose a course of action that would protect her health.
Legal reality is that if an exemption for the health of the mother exists in the law, doctors could perform just about any abortion they desired, claiming something as simple as "stress" as the justification. If the government tried to uphold the law and prosecute the doctor, they would lose because of the definition of health as defined by the US Supreme Court (quoted above).
The unfortunate fact is that the only way to ensure we protect unborn children is to enact a law like HB 1215.
9/15/2006 5:00 PM -- UPDATE Trackback to the IowaVoice so they know the realities of having exemptions for the health of the mother.
