November 30, 2012

Gratitudes to Ohio State Senator Nina Turner for donning that T-shirt (at left) on November 13 where she warned legislators (mostly male)    to Stop. Stop meddling inside women’s bodies. Turner stood with Ohio Planned Parenthood representatives at a press conference, where  they denounced the Ohio legislature‘s recent introduction of the “heartbeat bill”–a radical piece of legislation that would ban abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected.

The state of Ohio’s not alone. Pennsylvania’s House Bill 1077: The Women’s Right To Know Act was introduced in 2011 and remains in Committee. The Bill’s introduction reads “… ultrasound test requirements to determine gestational ages of unborn children …” It will require a pregnant woman to undergo an extensive ultrasound (including an internal probe) and medical counseling to determine that the woman has made a responsible decision to terminate her pregnancy.

 In the 112^th Congress, Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Todd Akin (R-MO) introduced H.R 212, The Sanctity of Life Act, declaring in part “… the life of each human being begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent, irrespective of sex, health, function or disability, defect, stage of biological development, or condition of dependency, at which time every human being shall have all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood …”

 Their purpose of the Act is to define ‘human and human being’ to “… include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, beginning with the earliest stage of development, created by the process of fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent.”

The text in H.R. 212 defines fertilization of the egg and the sperm as “…a new unique human being.”

If an embryo and/or fetus are held to be a human being, Everything Changes.

Medical technology can already determine when conception occurs. Good-bye Birth Certificate. Hello ‘Conception Certificate’.

Medical technology can also determine the gender of a fetus. The “new unique human being” should then be given a name;

And should be assigned a Social Security number;

And should become a tax-deductible dependent;

And should therefore be eligible for medical benefits;

And should be counted in local, state and federal census.

Will the health insurance industry be burdened with payment of medical tests associated in determining date of conception and gender? The cost for an Ultrasound is estimated at $700.00 to $1,200 or more. In recent years, many “keepsake ultrasound” businesses have come into being, offering 3 dimensional and 4 dimensional ultrasounds that have a good chance of revealing your baby’s gender. Currently these visits are not covered by insurance, and can run anywhere from $75 to $300 or even more. Will the insurance industry be required to cover this procedure under H.R. 212?

Ohio Senator Nina Turner is my heroine. In March of this year (as noted in my July 4, 2012 post—The Egg, the Sperm, ‘Pills’ and the Tighty Rightys), she introduced a Bill in the Ohio chamber where men would be subjected to the same intrusive examinations whenever they seek a prescription for Viagra or any other penile enhancement pill. Will be interesting to learn that the boxers and briefs of men will be invaded by a law similar to PA H.B. 1077 or H.R. 212. Might not happen though, because recent television commercials are saying that penile enhancement pills no longer require a doctor’s prescription.