Bad policy, medicine make for bad laws

Last, the Public Health and Welfare Committee in the Arkansas House prevented the advancement of a reasonable exception, proposed by Rep. Nicole Clowney, to the almost total abortion ban proposed. It would have allowed women whose babies had fatal abnormalities to abort those babies, since they would be unable to survive outside the womb. Apparently, preserving the life of the baby, even if it’s not viable, is paramount. Preserving the life of the mother, which can be subject to a host of health issues from such pregnancies, not so much. I forsee a day when some ignorant legislator proposes a total ban on abortions, no exceptions. If you have a problem pregnancy in Arkansas, you’re doomed. Better hope you can muster the resources to go somewhere rational for care.

That’s bad enough, but it points to another measure currently simmering on a Judiciary Committee back burner, HB 1174. It would outlaw chemical abortions, and allow prosecution for murder, not only of the woman who terminated the pregnancy, but anyone who aided her. There’s a potential problem, though. If I understand correctly, spontaneous abortion — the term for a miscarriage — is clinically indistinguishable from a chemical abortion, induced by mifepristone and misoprostol. There are cases where a woman has a spontaneous miscarriage but needs mifepristone to aid in fully evacuating fetal tissue (which she won’t be able to get at Walgreens, since they have abdicated their participation in women’s reproductive health care). Doctors and clinics in today’s environment are reluctant to provide this care due to the liabilities. Now the woman has complications, even after taking mifepristone, and has to seek emergency care. The dilemma then becomes, does she tell the emergency room doctor what’s going on, and risk coming home to find the cops in her driveway because the ER staff snitched, HIPAA be damned? Or does she not say anything, and risk not being treated correctly for her condition, with its threats of infection and sepsis?

This is bad policy, bad medicine and will make for bad law. Legislators need to stop playing doctor, and pay attention to clinicians who know what they’re talking about. Otherwise, any woman who has a miscarriage becomes a suspect, and every uterus a crime scene, a situation that will play out most harshly on the Black, brown and poor. Who ever thought women would have to take the Fifth in their doctor’s office??

The Legislature seems to think they are doing God’s work with all this focus on abortion, gender transition, drag shows, etc., but in reality they are just making people’s lives unnecessarily difficult. How about this for a change: Do something useful for Arkansans. Enact a law that requires landlords to meet some reasonable standards for habitability of rental units, and repeal the law making nonpayment of rent a criminal offense, just for starters.

For the electorate, the time to vote these meddling clowns out of office came a long time ago. The 2024 election will be here soon enough. TOM BECKETT

Siloam Springs