Ah, yes. Conservatives are evil because they think it is dorky to regulate things like hair weaving, but when it comes to regulating abortion, liberals are up in arms. Should House Bill 695 pass, Asheville would have the only compliant women’s healthcare facility.
The bill sets out to protect the free exercise of conscience for anti-abortion physicians against requirements of Obamacare. It also seeks to prevent taxpayers who morally oppose abortion from being forced to subsidize those who choose to engage in the practice. It further has a clause to exempt those extenuating circumstances presented as the norm in typical abortion debates. Then, to tip the hat to the bandwagon, sex-selected abortions are expressly forbidden.
One does not hear that much a whole lot in these parts. Instead, the outrage is over pending requirements that a physician be present for abortions and that the DSS ensure abortion clinics meet the standards of other certified surgical facilities in the state.
An article in the Mountain Xpress refers to the bill as “being related to banning Islamic or ‘Sharia’ law.’” Indeed it is, and that sounds nasty, but if one reads the document, in its first and latest versions, one finds language only “to protect [North Carolina] citizens from the application of foreign law that would result in the violation of a legal or constitutional right of a natural person.” That should go without saying, but who knows in today’s Orwellian/Carrollian context.
Senator Martin Nesbitt argues that the bill is an infringement of constitutional rights. He says it’s bad because the facilities to be affected provide a host of services deemed essential for women’s healthcare, but the bill does not ban or otherwise restrict routine health screenings. The Mountain Xpress is quick to point out that the local chapter of Planned Parenthood does not perform abortions. It only referred 122 women for abortions last year. It is the FemCare center that is in question, and by its unique qualification, Representative Susan Fisher is concerned it would make Asheville a magnet for crazy bombers.
