Healthcare Advocacy - Fake Reproductive Health Laws - LOOK OUT!

January 19, 2023

Jan 19, 2023

Good Day Healthcare Advocates

Every day we advocate for better healthcare for all of us is a good day. Thank you also to all of you advocates who have recently subscribed and to those who have asked for particular topics (use the comment button below). Some of the topics in work are the middlemen benefit managers and rural healthcare. Thank you.

Mission

The Healthcare delivery system in the United States is a patchwork that leaves much to be desired. It is the most expensive system among the top 35 industrial countries and covers far fewer participants delivering lower levels of quality care than many of our peer nations. This blog will provide:

Current problems in healthcare
Actions you can take
References

Current State of Affairs - Fake Reproductive Healthcare Legislation

When the Supreme Court struck down their own decision in Roe v Wade, states were given the assignment to determine whether abortion is legal. Legislatures are in session now and I want to alert you to some of the legislation we are tracking here in Washington, because, if you look closely you will likely find it in your state too.

These legislators frequently use misleading titles and language to make you think they are protecting women or making reproductive health safer. They are not. Here’s one:

WA Senate Bill 5172, Abortion Safety. It claims to ensure abortion safety by providing that only physicians may perform abortions and also requires that women be fully informed about all the health and psychological risks abortion presents and all the adoption alternatives that are available. It also says that only a physician and assisting healthcare provider may terminate a pregnancy and makes it a class C felony for anyone else to provide the abortion. What’s the downside?

First, it seeks to intimidate women seeking an abortion by mandating they be presented alternatives to dissuade them from their decision. This is what the fake Pregnancy Crisis Centers do.

Second, it limits who can perform the abortion it clouds the water about who can assist in an abortion and what assist means. It is not clear that a pharmacist providing medication to a patient is included or whether the patient has to take the medicine in front of the doctor. This kind of confusion in Texas has led pharmacists to not provide abortion medication to women in serious jeopardy of sepsis and death.

Here’s another example, WA Senate Bill 5185, Abortion.

It specifies that abortions may be provided up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. After 24 weeks it can only be performed in the face of a medical emergency or severe fetal deformation. 24 weeks sounds good. What could go wrong?

First, the limits on abortion previously at the federal level were specified by the ability of the fetus to survive outside the womb, that’s what Washington has now. Every person is different and while that may be a statistical norm it is not true for everyone. Second, it denies abortions needed to preserve the life and health of the mother and replaces it with an abortion in the face of a medical emergency. Again, states have interpreted this to mean that the doctor has to wait for the mother to be in such an emergency as to be critical - near death, before they act.

This last week Representative Frederika Wilson told how she was forced to carry a dead fetus for TWO MONTHS because doctors would not remove the fetus until it was a medical emergency. This is torture not health care. Legislators have no business interfering between patient and doctor.

If you think you need abortion care - if you use a computer I recommend opening an incognito or not traced browser window so that your search is not part of your history. Then check with Planned Parenthood. There are other sites that claim to help, but just like the fake legislation they direct people to fake pregnancy crisis centers that mislead people try to force women to carry to term.

What You Can Do – Contact Legislators with RESISTBOT

Resistbot

Text SIGN PPZRIU to 50409 to send the letter below to your state representatives and senators.

We all deserve a healthcare system that works for all of us, no exceptions, that means women too. I want you to create and support legislation that says “The state shall not deny or interfere with an individual's reproductive freedom decisions, which includes the individual's fundamental right to choose to have an abortion and the individual's fundamental right to choose to use contraception. I promise I will watch what you do.

EXTRA CREDIT - State of Washington Only

Click on these links to tell your Washington representatives you oppose fake abortion legislation. You need to select Comment on this Bill then put in your address, and hit verify, and below select Oppose. Comments are optional but welcome.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5172&Initiative=false&Year=2023

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5185&Initiative=false&Year=2023

The two bills below force women to carry bills against their wishes.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5227&Initiative=false&Year=2023

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5098&Initiative=false&Year=2023