Turns out I gave Virginia governor McDonnell too much credit after he rejected the VA ultrasound bill on the grounds the state should insert itself into medical decisions. He’s gone and flip-flopped as a slightly revised version of the bill passes through the VA Senate:
The 21 to 19 vote, mostly along party lines, came a week after Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) asked legislators to revise the bill following protests on Capitol Square and repeated mocking on national television. Lawmakers amended the original bill, which mandated that women undergo a transvaginal ultrasound, a procedure that requires a probe be inserted into the vagina.
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The bill will head back to the Republican-led House of Delegates, which already voted for similar measures this year and is widely expected to do so again. McDonnell, who signed legislation last year that imposed new regulations on clinics that perform abortions, told reporters that he will review the legislation but supports the concept.
“I think women have the right to know all of the medical information before they make a very important choice,” McDonnell said.
This is nonsense. Women know fully well what an abortion is and what it means. And it’s not the state’s job to legislate what medical information is relevant to the patient. That is a physicians job and there is no legitimate medical reason to perform the maneuvers the state is legislating. The state is legislating unnecessary, and therefore unethical and unlawful medical procedures. This is also from the state that brought us Buck V. Bell, so I guess they’ll never learn.
It’s a very simple ethical issue. The state has no business dictating medical practice. Worse, dictating physicians perform an unnecessary and invasive procedure is the state legislating unethical medical conduct. No physician should comply with this law, as I believe that forcing doctors to practice unethical medicine is unconstitutional.
Via Laden at ftb
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