Informed Consent in South Dakota
July 28th, 2008
A funny thing happened last Monday at the Sioux Falls, South Dakota Planned Parenthood abortion clinic…absolutely nothing! That’s right. As women began showing up at 8:00 in the morning for their abortion appointments, they were met with a sign hanging on the door that read “CLOSED”! How on earth is this possible, you may ask? Here’s how. Monday marked the first day in which Planned Parenthood was required to comply with the new South Dakota Abortion Informed Consent Law.
Here’s what the new law requires:
* Abortion doctors must advise pregnant mothers, IN WRITING, that the abortion will “terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being.”
* There must be full disclosure of the medical risks of abortion, including the risk of depression and the increased risk of suicide and suicidal tendencies.
* Penalties for noncompliance could include imprisonment, loss of medical license, and even civil prosecution.
In short, Planned Parenthood in South Dakota is being required to TELL THE TRUTH. What’s amazing about all this is it appears that at least for now Planned Parenthood abortion doctors would rather do business elsewhere than be honest with pregnant mothers about what it is that they’re doing, thus confirming that they’re exactly the kind of slime we all knew them to be.
Now look, I’m not naïve enough to believe that abortions have come to a screeching halt in South Dakota. At some point there will be abortionists who are willing to take the risk of performing abortions again. In addition if women want to get abortions bad enough without all the hassle, surly they’ll be willing to travel as far away as Bismarck or Minneapolis or Sioux City. But for one day at least, no unborn babies were killed in South Dakota. There is a God in heaven!
July 30th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Well Don, I doubt any worthy skeptic would be swayed by your assertion that, “There is a God in heaven!” However, this is a most interesting development. How many pro-choicer’s really consider this TRUTH? And I wonder how long this new law will last… Great picture by the way!
Steve
July 31st, 2008 at 10:32 am
Well Steve, I guess I meant that more as a figure of speech rather than a proof statement for apologetics, but point well taken.
According to Christian Newswire, Planned Parenthood’s lawyers have attempted to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals that the Statute violated doctor’s first amendment rights, contending that it was a statement of “ideology.” They’ve also petitioned the District Court regarding the “human being” disclosure. Both cases were unsuccessful. The Appeals Court made it clear that there has been no evidence presented to demonstrate that the required disclosure is anything other than “an accurate statement of biological fact.” No doubt Planned Parenthood will not just go away quietly. But for now the law stands. I guess the real point here is that the Eighth Circuit Court has now rendered a ruling that may well have established a legal precedent on the issue of when human life begins. For my money that’s HUGE.