Neb. abortion bill advances (first-of-its-kind would require women to get mental-health screenings)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100407/NEWS01/704079824/1009#neb-abortion-bill-advances

Published Wednesday April 7, 2010

LINCOLN (AP) - Nebraska lawmakers have advanced a first-of-its-kind bill that would require women to get mental-health screenings before having abortions.

Second-round approval was given to the bill (LB594) on Wednesday. It is expected to get final approval and be signed by Gov. Dave Heineman within the next several days.

Supporters say it could help prevent post-abortion medical problems, but opponents say it’s meant as a barrier to legally ending pregnancies.

After the screenings, women would have to be told whether they had risk factors that could lead to mental or physical problems. But abortions could be performed even if risk factors existed.
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If screenings were not done, women could sue doctors, but the doctors would not face criminal charges.

[hlthe2b]

1. They sure do hate women, don't they?

Damn them to hell for the patronizing misogyny.

[cutlassmama]

2. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick! Maybe they should make all the guys who

impregnate the women have mental tests too!

[enlightenment]

3. If these people used the same amount of time

energy, and ingenuity thinking up solutions to REAL problems, the world might be a better place.

Instead, they spend their time and effort coming up with more and more ways to try and whittle away at womens' rights.

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Someone in Nebraska should propose legislation requiring politicians to have mental health screenings prior to entering office.

[ixion]

4. *sigh*

My 'ol home state has some very nice qualities, but the hardcore xian pseudo-sancto-morality is not one of them. :(

[David__77]

5. REAL intention is to discourage doctors from providing abortion services

The problem is that REAL intention is to discourage doctors from providing abortion services, since it could be a more litigious field. Now more than ever, abortion providers deserve public support and gratitude!

Bottom line - medical science needs to come up with easier ways to terminate pregnancies. Morning after pill and RU-486 were a good start.

[uppityperson]

6. Are men req to get this before a vasectomy or gall bladder operation?

This is stupid. Simply asinine. It puts one more layer in the way of women getting health care.

"State Sen. Amanda McGill of Lincoln offered the amendment, saying it makes no sense to tell women they may be at risk for mental health problems following abortions without giving those women some options if problems do arise."

Indeed.

"Sen. Cap Dierks of Ewing, who introduced the measure, said it would hold abortion doctors to the same standards for informed consent as other doctors."

Only if they require this for every other type of surgery. Which they don't. Dierks, you lie.

[femrap]

7. These misogynists must

sit around in jerk-off circles trying to think of ways to make abortion impossible.

Maybe if a law were proposed to cut off the balls of the one who caused the unwanted pregnancy, we'd get somewhere close to Justice and Fairness.

:wow:

[progressoid]

8. I heard that on the news last night.

At first I thought it was just another swing and a miss for the anti-choicers. But it might looks like it might have the potential to become law.

Sad. :banghead:

[intheflow]

9. I don't know, this might be a good thing.

The most nutty anti-choicers I've met are all women who had abortions and then flipped out with guilt years later. Maybe if they'd been screened before committing to the procedure they wouldn't have the mental and emotional breakdowns later and then try to force their guilt on others. It really would depend on who was doing the screening and what their agenda and methodology were.

[uppityperson]

11. Who does them, who pays for them, how long does it take to get through

the process?

Those who wigged out afterwards have bigger mental health issues than getting an abortion. I really don't think subjecting all women to this in any way would help. All it does is put another hinderance in the way.

I wonder if they would then require women who are pregnant, or thinking about it, to get mental health counseling also? THAT would be quite a good thing, make sure every woman gets screened BEFORE they get pregnant. hmmmm

[ehrnst]

10. Well, only if they require that OB's give women the same mental health screenings at prenatal visits

Andrea Yates and Susan Smith could have benefited.

Childbearing has just as many mental risks as abortion, and far more physical risks.

So if they want to make that case abortion, then they need to make it about childbearing, too.

[Lucy Goosey]

12. That's nice and regressive, isn't it?

Canada used to have "theraputic abortion committees" that women had to face before they could get abortions. The process was challenged in '88 and the Supreme Court struck it down.

From the majority decision:

The decision whether to terminate a pregnancy is essentially a moral decision, a matter of conscience. I do not think there is or can be any dispute about that. The question is: whose conscience? Is the conscience of the woman to be paramount or the conscience of the state? I believe, for the reasons I gave in discussing the right to liberty, that in a free and democratic society it must be the conscience of the individual.

Isn't that the sort of reasoning that should work in the US?

[Crunchy Frog]

13. How about before having babies?

Giving birth is far more likely to result in psychiatric problems than having an abortion. The potential effects are far more devestating as well.