It may not be health care to you, buddy.
Another misinformed, scientifically unsound approach from anti-abortion activists is on the march. They're going after 20-week abortion bans with a twist: mandating that anesthesia be given to fetuses after 20 weeks because, anti-abortion activists argue, they are capable of feeling pain. Naturally, their claim is
completely unsupported by science, but that has never stopped them before. Tara Culp-Pressler has
the details about a new bill in Montana.
Under House Bill 479, drafted by State Rep. Albert Olszewski, abortion doctors would be required to administer anesthesia to fetuses past the 20th week of pregnancy. The measure states that “substantial scientific evidence recognizes that an unborn child is capable of experiencing physical pain and suffering by not later than 20 weeks after fertilization” and the state has a “compelling interest” in preventing that.
Rep. Olszewski’s bill would not technically ban abortion procedures altogether after 20 weeks of pregnancy. But, by requiring doctors to follow a medically unnecessary protocol for administering anesthesia, it could impose significant barriers to later abortions. The providers in the state still aren’t sure exactly what the legislation would mean for their day-to-day work.
Similar to bills that require abortion clinics to meet certain building regulations that have nothing to do with patient safety, these new bills could amount to more bureaucratic red tape that either prevents or stifles abortions after 20 weeks—which are often the most critical to guarding the health of a mother.
Dr. Joey Banks, a doctor who provides abortion services at a clinic in Missoula, echoed those sentiments. “For elective procedures in this state, if this were law, it would probably mean abortion providers could not continue to provide after 20 weeks at least for a while while they determined costs, safety, and provider availability,” Banks told ThinkProgress via email.
Just another approach in a long line of (often successful) attempts to chip away at access to abortion at the expense of the ability of women and their doctors to make medically sound decisions.