The abortion ban proposed by Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, in a crass attempt to soften some of the damage of the GOP’s temporarily successful quest to overturn an individual’s right to choose their reproductive medical care, contains some items that befuddle logic, let alone the science of biology.
The 27-page bit of legislation, which Graham dubbed the “Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act,” repeats some frequently used scientifically dubious “facts” as part of its background information–from repeatedly using the term “unborn baby” to refer to a fetus, to claiming that at fetuses can feel “pain” as early as seven weeks gestation.
But the most heinous parts of the bill are not the misstatements of science–which, frankly, have become a cornerstone of all GOP legislation. Instead, it’s how Graham wants pregnant patients, doctors and law enforcement to handle issues regarding pregnancy.
The disconnection from reality hits at page 12:
(C) REQUIREMENT AS TO MANNER OF PROCEDURE PERFORMED.—Notwithstanding the definitions of ‘abortion’ and ‘attempt’ in this section, a physician terminating or at tempting to terminate a pregnancy under an exception provided by subparagraph (B) may do so only in the manner which, in reasonable medical judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive. [My emphasis]
Yes, you read that right: Lindsey Graham wants doctors who are performing abortions–which by definition is the termination of a pregnancy–to perform said abortion [pregnancy termination] in a manner in which the “unborn baby” (that is, the fetus) could survive.
Set aside the question of one is supposed to terminate the pregnancy yet have a surviving fetus–and how a doctor is supposed to carry out this procedure–and think about the potential outcome of that demand: a patient expects to have an abortion, but at the end of the procedure, the doctor presents the patient with a living (for the moment) fetus. “Thank you for choosing our clinic for your abortion, Jordan. You may now take your child and leave.”
The second most egregious thing in the bill–and there are many, many egregious things–is the requirement that within 48 hours of an abortion, a rape victim must have had counseling or received medical treatment for rape or injuries associated with rape (Page 11). This is essentially mandating that the rape be reported: if a person goes to a medical facility for treatment of rape, hospitals and medical professionals have an obligation to report sexual abuse to authorities. So a woman who went through the trauma and fear of surviving a rape must now subject herself to a medical and law enforcement inquiry to justify getting an abortion.
Perhaps the most heinous part of provision is what must happen to a minor who is the victim of rape or abuse: they must file a criminal complaint:
the pregnancy is a result of rape against a minor or incest against a minor, and the rape or incest has been reported at any time prior to the abortion to either (I) a government agency legally authorized to act on reports of child abuse; or (II) a law enforcement agency.
This is horrific on two levels. First, a child is not assumed to be raped if the child ends up pregnant. Under this law, the 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio, for example, would’ve had to go to law enforcement agencies prior to going to a doctor to seek an abortion. It’s no longer acceptable to, y’know, just perform the abortion on the child; now the child must be questioned to ensure the case is a rape and that the pre-adolescent victim didn’t somehow seduce her abuser in a scenario only Matt Gaetz could come up with.
Couple these laws with GOP policies being promoted where rapists have the right to block the ability of their victims to get an abortion. If Uncle Cletus is questioned about his niece Patty Sue’s report, he could immediately retain counsel to block Patty Sue from aborting the fetus, thereby forcing her to raise his child while he, presumably, has a very difficult stint in prison.