Reporting
for www.rhrealitycheck.org, Teddy Wilson laments
the passage and signing of Louisiana House Bill 388.[1]
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) signed the bill on June 12, 2014, in West
Monroe, home to the bill’s author Representative Katrina Jackson (D). The
actual signing (not merely a ceremony) took place at the First Baptist Church
in Rep. Jackson’s hometown of West Monroe. According to Wilson, HB 388
represented one of Gov. Jindal’s legislative priorities for the recently ended legislative
session.
Wilson
understands Louisiana’s HB 388 to be another recent heir of Texas’ HB 2, an
earlier omnibus bill that imposes stricter state-wide abortion regulations,
which was enacted July 18, 2013.[2] Wilson
describes the consequences of HB 388 in terms of three changes: (1) Abortion
provides will be required to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within
thirty miles of the performing clinic; (2) a “forced” twenty-four hour waiting
period on surgical abortions, and (3) “the number of abortions a doctor must
perform in a given year to be considered an abortion provider will be greatly
reduced.”[3]
Regarding the latter, that number, as a matter of fact, will drop from thirty
to five abortions annually.[4]
What
Wilson fails to report are the various other results of the bill, not least
those points that expose the specious, or better wicked, nature of the
business. For example, Rep. Jackson’s bill now requires abortion providers to
disclose to the mothers that their “counselors” (i.e., salespersons) have
“sales quotas” imposed upon them.[5]
So, in addition to the numerous other aspects, the quota disclosure will help
the disillusioned, scared, vulnerable women see through the pretense of the
abortion mill’s concern for the mother’s best interest and health—the mother
can better penetrate through her emotional needs to understand that the
abortionist’s priority is not her at all but money, filthy lucre; it is blood
money. This is but one glaring omission in Wilson’s radical pro-abortion,
axe-to-grind, biased narrative.
Another
remarkable element of Wilson’s report is his several and various faulty appeals
to authority on the matter. Against the claim made by the bill’s author and
proponents that “the restrictions will protect women’s health and make
abortions safer,” Wilson suggests that all the evidence is to the contrary,
citing major medical associations. The American Congress of Obstetricians
and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are quoted
by Wilson, saying, “[T]here is no medical basis to require abortion providers
to have local hospital admitting privileges.”[6]
Such a claim is embarrassingly disingenuous and contrary to fact.
One
year ago this month Nova Women’s Healthcare in Fairfax, Virginia, was forced to
close its doors as a result of a pathological pattern of botched abortions, one
of which ended in the mother’s death. This evil is not the rare exception. The
cover-up, protectionist reporting methods used to safeguard the abortion
industry notwithstanding, the Center for Disease Control reports some
four-hundred eleven maternal deaths resulting from so-called “safe and legal”
abortion between the years 1973 and 2009.[7] In
fact, on February 07, 2014, Planned Parenthood settled for two-million dollars
in a botched abortion case, which led to the death of the mother.[8]
Due
in part to an increased awareness of the dangers of this most common and highly
invasive surgical procedure, reports of maternal deaths resulting from abortion
are becoming more public and frequent. Therefore, the response from the ACOG
and the AMA to HB 388 is revealing, since a teenager with a smartphone can
recognize that there is a “medical basis” for the restrictions of HB 388,
namely that “safe and legal” abortions always ends in one murder and sometimes a
second manslaughter, death to the mother. If these medical “authorities” do not
view maternal mortality as a sufficient “medical basis,” then they have no
authority at all in the matter.
Wilson
also cites Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil Liberties Union
Reproductive Freedom Project, who claims that “this law doesn’t protect women’s
health.” As seen above, however, it does indeed. Admitting privileges at the
nearest hospital could save the life of a hemorrhaging woman, whose uterus or
intestines have been perforated, which are not uncommon consequences of the
operation.
Wilson
shares Dalven’s perspective, quoting her wondering, “Given that doctors and
medical groups oppose these laws, we have to ask ourselves why some politicians
are pushing them?” Both Wilson’s and those he represents radical pro-abortion
bias is readily seen in the question posed by Dalven. By means of this loaded
question, they hope to evoke suspicion in their audience. The assumed premise here
is that politicians must have some specious, hidden motives for “pushing” this
bill. As members of the legislature, though, Rep. Jackson and her bill’s
co-sponsors and supporters are responsible for the administration of public
safety and justice. This bill, which will reduce both preborn and maternal
fatalities, is evidence of these public officials discharging their duties in
the protection of their citizens’ most basic right—life. That’s why they are
pushing the bill.
Nevertheless,
the inverse may be considered, too. If HB 388 will ensure that fewer lives are lost at the hands to the Louisiana
abortion industry, and it will, one may rightly wonder why Dalven, the ACOG,
and the AMA are opposing it? Granting that abortion is a billion dollar a year
U.S. industry, one need not strain to see possible less-than-pure motives
beneath the bill’s opposition.
The
primary concern of Wilson shines through his writing, when he admits the clinic
closures that will likely follow as a result of the bill. He protests that the
bill will force the closure of three, perhaps four, of the five surgical
abortion providers in the state of Louisiana.
The
entire scope of Wilson’s report drips with enmity and hostility toward the
radical biblical conception of what it means to be human, and the most basic
ethical demands of God for his image-bearers and their treatment of one
another. At the most fundamental level of what it means to be human is the
ever-abiding mandate of Genesis 1:28, the dominion mandate, “And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion’...” This foundational verse
circumscribes the contours of our humanity. Those powers and people that strive
against God’s purposes for his creatures—especially as touching the realization
of his plan expressed through the dominion mandate—are described in scripture as
the most wicked of characters; they are of the seed of the serpent, their
father the devil (see, e.g., Pharaoh’s trifold program of pogrom in Ex. 1 and
2; King Herod in Matt. 2; cf. Gen. 3; Jn. 8:44, etc.).
As
depositories of God’s own image, and thus presence, the unjust taking of
innocent human life is strictly forbidden (Ex. 20:13). Biblically speaking, the
most innocent, vulnerable to oppression, the preborn child, enjoys the divine
protection and benefits of this prohibition. In fact, in terms of biblical law,
to even inadvertently take the life of a preborn child is to surrender one’s
own right to life; that is how highly valued life is, according to Scripture
(cf. Ex. 21:22-25).[9]
Therefore,
in light of Scripture—and the historic orthodox Christian position—Wilson’s
axe-to-grind angle on Rep. Jackson’s HB 388’s passing and signing reflects not
only a perspective on image-bearing child-bearing that is incongruent with the
Christian worldview, but one that is nothing short of an old battle strategy of
Satan in his war against YHWH and his image. As such, Wilson is reflecting the
image of his father, the one who was a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abort73.com,
“U.S. Abortion Statistics: Facts and figures relating to the frequency of
abortion in the United States,” as found at http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/ (accessed June
17, 2014).
Boland, Barbra.
“Planned Parenthood Settles $2 Million Case After Botched Abortion” (February
14, 2014). cnsnews.com. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-boland/planned-parenthood-settles-2-million-case-after-botched-abortion.
Jackson, Rep.
Katrina (D). House Bill No. 388—Abortion: Provides for Physicians Who Perform
Abortions. Louisiana Legislative Regular Session, 2014. http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=875660&n=HB388+Original.
Kline, Meredith.
“Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus.” Pages 193—201. In Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 20. (1977).
Operation Rescue
Staff. “30th abortion clinic closes in 2013 after botched abortions, patient
death.” LifeSiteNews.com. http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/30th-abortion-clinic-closes-in-2013-after-botched-abortions-patient-death.
Reardon, D. C.,
T. W. Strahan, J. M. Thorp, M. W. Shuping. “Deaths Associated with Abortion
Compared to Childbirth: A Review of New and Old Data and the Medical and Legal
Implications. Pp. 279‑327 in The Journal of Contemporary Health Law & Policy (2004), 20.2.
Wilson, Teddy.
“Louisiana Governor Signs Omnibus Anti-Abortion Bill.” RHRealityCheck.org (June 12, 2014). http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/06/12/breaking-louisiana-governor-signs-omnibus-anti-abortion-bill/.
Unknown author.
“Texas Omnibus Abortion Bill (HB 2). RHRC Beta Project: RHRealityCheck.org
(April 02, 2014). http://data.rhrealitycheck.org/law/texas-omnibus-abortion-bill-hb-2-2013/.
[1] Teddy Wilson, “Louisiana
Governor Signs Omnibus Anti-Abortion Bill,” RHRealityCheck.org (June 12, 2014), as found at http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/06/12/breaking-louisiana-governor-signs-omnibus-anti-abortion-bill/ (accessed June 14. 2014). Unless
otherwise noted, all references to the subject matter are to this article.
[2] Unknown author, “Texas Omnibus
Abortion Bill (HB 2), RHRC Beta, RHRealityCheck.org (April 02, 2014), as found
at http://data.rhrealitycheck.org/law/texas-omnibus-abortion-bill-hb-2-2013/ (accessed June 14, 2014).
[3] Wilson, “Louisiana Governor Signs
Omnibus Anti-Abortion Bill.”
[4] Rep. Katrina Jackson, House Bill
No. 388—Abortion: Provides for Physicians Who Perform Abortions, Louisiana Legislative
Regular Session, 2014, as found at http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=875660&n=HB388+Original (accessed June 15, 2014).
[5] Rep. Jackson, House Bill No.
388.
[6] Operation rescue Staff, “30th
abortion clinic closes in 2013 after botched abortions, patient death,”
LifeSiteNews.com, as found at http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/30th-abortion-clinic-closes-in-2013-after-botched-abortions-patient-death (accessed June 17, 2014).
[7] Abort73.com, “U.S. Abortion
Statistics: Facts and figures relating to the frequency of abortion in the
United States,” as found at http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/ (accessed June 17, 2014).
[8] Barbra Boland, “Planned
Parenthood Settles $2 Million Case After Botched Abortion” (February 14, 2014),
cnsnews.com, as found at http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-boland/planned-parenthood-settles-2-million-case-after-botched-abortion (accessed June 17, 2014).
[9] Gainsayers notwithstanding, see Meredith
Kline, “Lex Talionis and the Human Fetus,” in the Journal of the Evangelical
Theological Society 20 (1977): 193-201.
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