New OK Law Tramples State Constitution and Patients' Right to Privacy

J

JohnnyBz00LS

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
1,978
Reaction score
0
Location
NE Indiana
Oklahoma Abortion Law: Details To Be Publicly Posted Online

A new Oklahoma law requires physicians to disclose detailed information on women's abortions to the State's Department Of Health, which will then post the collected data on a public website. The controversial measure comes into effect on November 1 and will cost $281,285 to implement, $256,285 each subsequent year to maintain.

Oklahoma women undergoing abortion procedures will be legally forced to reveal:

1) Date of abortion
2) County in which abortion is performed
3) Age of mother
4) Marital status of mother
5) Race of mother
6) Years of education of mother
7) State or foreign country of residence of mother
8) Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother

Proponents of the legislation claim that women should not be concerned over their privacy since no names or "personal information" will be reported. This defense is questionable. Feminists For Choice argues, "In reviewing the actual text of the law, the first 8 questions that will be asked and reported could easily be used to identify any member of a smaller community."

The Center For Reproductive Rights, former state Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton (D-Okla.), and Okla. resident Lora Joyce David have filed a lawsuit to prevent this contentious abortion bill from going into effect, on the grounds that it violates the state's constitution.
Click to expand...

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/08/oklahoma-abortion-law-det_n_313779.html

For those on the right opposed to the government coming between the patient and their doctor, where is your outrage now?
 
This is the first I've seen this of story.
Though, I think you're misrepresenting it, Johnny. This isn't a patient/doctor relationship issue. It's really an issue of public record keeping.

The state of Oklahoma is collecting data on abortion procedures.
They demographic information is being collected, not the names of the woman terminating the pregnancy. And that information is made public on a website.

Is the "outrage" really over the government being involved in health care?
Or is it a fear that it will interfere with the abortion industry?

If this story were not about abortion, would it still be an outrage?
For example:
A new law requires physicians to disclose detailed information on all women who are displaying the symptoms associated with bird flu. The anonymous statistical information will then be posted on a public website.
Click to expand...

Or what if they were compiling information regarding people with the H1N1, or polio, or gunshot wounds.... would that still be an outrage?

I'm not sure, but I don't think the same people would be outraged.
Because those same people tend to think that the government should RUN the entire health care industry and manage all the records.

I'm undecided on this issue.
The government need not be involved in this, but the people opposing it are precisely the people who've empowered government to be involved in the first place.
 
They are targeting a specific medical procedure and a specific gender for a specific political reason. If they are doing this in the name of "public health information", then they have to also collect and post data on ALL medical procedures, including vasectomies and penile enlargement operations ( :rolleyes: ). Omitting names in small communities and providing all that other information does not protect privacy. This is a thinly veiled attempt to further intimidate women from obtaining a legal procedure.
 
JohnnyBz00LS said:
They are targeting a specific medical procedure and a specific gender for a specific political reason.
Click to expand...
I can understand why it would be important to collect this survey information from Doctors. Most decent people agree, putting aside the legality issues, that it's better to have fewer abortions performed. Even if you think the act should be legal, we certainly want to see fewer of them performed.

Would the demographic information collected help society better able to meet the health needs of the woman most likely to seek an abortion? I think the answer to that question is yes. This information would be helpful.

The next question is-
is it possible to collect the information and not make it available to the public? Probably not. Information collected by the government like this is public record. No avoiding that.

Where do we disagree so far?

As for the public info, are they putting up a www.okieabortion.gov with a county by county listing or is it like most public records, where you have to do a fair amount of digging and investigating to find the information?

If they are doing this in the name of "public health information", then they have to also collect and post data on ALL medical procedures, including vasectomies and penile enlargement operations ( :D ).
Click to expand...
That's absurd. There'd be no reason to justify the expense associated with such a thing.

And to argue that abortion is simply just an example of elective surgery no different than a vasectomy or penile implants is absurd. It's not.

This is a thinly veiled attempt to further intimidate women from obtaining a legal procedure.
Click to expand...
So, you're basically confirming what I said earlier.
That this isn't an issue of doctor/patient treatment. In fact it has nothing to do with that.
The outrage is over a concern that it'll interfere with the abortion industry.
 
Calabrio said:
That this isn't an issue of doctor/patient treatment. In fact it has nothing to do with that.
Click to expand...

:bsflag: Open and honest communication between the doctor and patient will be stifled when you put this new government-required questionaire between them. Additionally, these private details of the patient shared with the doctor are not only no longer protected, but will quite likely be legally exploited for the benefit of the anti-choice crowd.
 
so... now we have "tag-team" trolling? ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 420 (members: 1, guests: 419)
Back
Top