A long time ago I wrote the first Their Reality has Lapped Our Satire diary. Several more followed, but they were mostly tragically comic. This one, I am sorry to say, is just tragic.
Just exactly what is it the "Pro-Life" people really want? Is it just about abortion, or is it really about getting back to the "good old days," when women were mere chattel, the property of men? Do they want to save innocent babies, or do they want to treat women as lesser human beings, creatures to be protected, fawned upon, and mostly controlled?
Four members of the Indiana General Assembly have answered that question with a new bill they sponsored. Is it an abortion informed consent statute? Nope. Is it a waiting period before a woman can terminate her pregnancy? Nope, not that either. Indeed, it is not even about abortion. Not at all. Nope. This one goes straight to the heart of the matter. Well, not really the heart. This one actually gives the legislature direct control over a woman's uterus, pregnant or not.
House Bill 1366
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 25-22.5-6-2.2.
Synopsis: Informed consent for a hysterectomy. Requires a physician to obtain informed consent and provide certain information to a patient before performing a hysterectomy. Requires the office of women's health to adopt certain rules concerning consent procedures and medical reasons for hysterectomies.
Effective: July 1, 2010.
Borders, Klinker, Dodge, Messmer
January 13, 2010, read first time and referred to Committee on Public Health.
Introduced
Second Regular Session 116th General Assembly (2010)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type, additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
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HOUSE BILL No. 1366
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning professions and occupations.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: IC 25-22.5-6-2.2; (10)IN1366.1.1. --> SECTION 1. IC 25-22.5-6-2.2 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2010]: Sec. 2.2. (a) Except as provided in subsection (c), before a physician performs a hysterectomy, the physician shall obtain verbal and written informed consent from the patient. The informed consent procedure must ensure that the following information is given to the patient verbally and in writing:
(1) Advice that the individual is free to withhold or withdraw consent to the procedure at any time before the hysterectomy without affecting the right to future care or treatment and without loss or withdrawal of any state or federally funded program benefits to which the individual might be otherwise entitled.
(2) A description of the type or types of surgery and other procedures involved in the proposed hysterectomy, and a description of any known available and appropriate alternatives to the hysterectomy procedure.
(3) Advice that the hysterectomy procedure is considered to be irreversible, and that infertility will result.
(4) A description of the discomforts and risks that may accompany or follow the performing of the procedure, including an explanation of the type and possible effects of any anesthetic to be used.
(5) A description of the benefits or advantages that may be expected as a result of the hysterectomy.
(6) The approximate length of hospital stay.
(7) The approximate length of time for recovery.
(8) The estimated financial cost to the patient for the physician's and surgeon's fees.
(b) The patient shall sign a written statement before the hysterectomy is performed, indicating she has read and understood the written information provided under subsection (a), and that this information has been discussed with her by her attending physician and surgeon, or the physician's and surgeon's designee. The statement must indicate that the patient has been advised by the patient's physician or designee that the hysterectomy will render the patient permanently sterile and incapable of having children.
(c) The informed consent procedure under this section is not required when the hysterectomy is performed in a life threatening emergency situation in which the physician determines prior written informed consent is not possible.
(d) The office of women's health (IC 16-19-13-2) shall adopt rules:
(1) to establish verbal and written informed consent procedures that must be obtained before the performance of a hysterectomy; and
(2) that indicate the medically accepted justifications for performance of a hysterectomy.
(e) If, after a hearing, the board finds that a physician has not complied with this section, the physician is subject to disciplinary sanctions under IC 25-1-9.
For those not old enough to remember, the "medically accepted justifications" is a return to the old days, when hospitals had panels of doctors (all men) who decided if a woman could have a hysterectomy, of course with the approval of the husband.
I truly wish I were making this up. Their reality has truly lapped our satire. If you wanted to make fun of the most extreme pro-life people you would PRETEND they proposed a statute in which the Legislature decides it should have more control over a woman's uterus. But in their reality, they're actually doing it.
Their reality has lapped our satire, and this time it isn't funny.