LETTER: Congressional Democrats proposed common-sense abortion bill
Gary Good’s recent letter compared S4132, the Senate bill that would have nationally legalized abortion, to a “political ad.” Mr. Good then further mischaracterized S4132. It does not legalize unlimited abortions until the moment of birth. The bill allows states to restrict abortion upon fetal viability, except and only in instances where the life and health of the pregnant patient is at risk.
The legislation also prevents state legislatures from devising unreasonable restrictions on patients (mandatory ultrasounds, arbitrary wait periods, forced counseling, etc.) and on facilities or staff (specified hall widths, unnecessary hospital credentials, etc.). It protects pregnant patients and providers acting in good faith from criminal penalties.
Any Republican senator who values individual rights could have voted for the bill. It would have restored the sensible balance of patient, unborn and provider interests originally provided under the Roe and Casey decisions.
Current Republican senators and most Republican candidates prefer that U.S. citizens remain subject to the whims of state officials. Officials who have glibly rationalized forcing children and rape victims to give birth, requiring pregnant patients to carry dead fetuses to the point of sepsis and criminalizing providers who try to help such patients.