Jim DeMint has taken some extreme positions but this is truly a WTF moment. Straight to the point:
GOP Senator Pushes Radical Bill To Restrict Discussion Of Abortion Over The Internet
Yes, you read that right. Welcome Big Brother. Welcome thought police. Welcome to the Republican dystopian nightmare they have wet dreams about.
We've already had the Let Women Die bill ( and where is the jobs legislation?) . We've already seen countless state and Federal measures to restrict women's reproductive rights, limit, and outright deny healthcare to women. Now, discussion of abortion between a woman and her doctor via the internet is the next target. The very same people who love to scream about death panels and bureaucrats making medical decisions, are the ones who would interfere in the healthcare decisions of every pregnant woman in America if given the opportunity. They are relentless in their pursuit of control of our bodies and medical decisions. I am beyond incensed.
Now Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), one of the most die-hard anti-choice lawmakers, has jumped on the bandwagon by sneaking a radical anti-abortion amendment onto a completely unrelated piece of legislation. DeMint’s amendment would ban women and their doctors from discussing abortion over the Internet:
Anti-choice Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) just filed an anti-choice amendment to a bill related to agriculture, transportation, housing, and other programs. The DeMint amendment could bar discussion of abortion over the Internet and through videoconferencing, even if a woman’s health is at risk and if this kind of communication with her doctor is her best option to receive care.
Under this amendment, women would need a separate, segregated Internet just for talking about abortion care with their doctors.
Again I say, WTF? If you care about privacy....if you care about settled law...if you care about women's rights...if you care about standing up to the right wing totalitarians, call your senators at 202-421-3121 and tell them to oppose the DeMint amendment (#768) to H.R.2112. He's sneakily attached this to an unrelated piece of legislation because he's a chickenshit coward.
As Nancy Keegan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America says:
DeMint is essentially mandating “an abortion-only version of Skype.” She points out that a woman with high-risk pregnancy talking to her doctor through video conferencing would have to somehow switch to a separate communications system if abortion came up at all. “It is impractical, ridiculous, and, most importantly, bad for women in rural or remote areas who would not be able to discuss the full set of options with their doctor,” Keenan said.
If you didn't already think there was a war on women, can you hear me now?
Update: There's some discussion in the comments about whether the amendment referenced is the amendment in question. I got that from the Think Progress link so if it's wrong it wasn't my intent to mislead. So will be looking for more clarity.
Update#2:
I agree that additional clarity is needed but I'm going to leave the diary up since NARAL also has this on the front page of their website:
and here's their release on this issue:
SEN. DEMINT INJECTS ANTI-CHOICE POLITICS INTO APPROPRIATIONS BILL
RHReality Check also has this:
DeMint Wants To Defund "Robo-Skype Abortions"
Convinced that the only thing that needs to be accomplished in Congress before the 2012 election is creating bill after bill revolving around Planned Parenthood, Republican Senator Jim DeMint has a new one in the wings -- this time a bill to ensure that no federal tax dollars being used to facilitate the building of an infrastructure that would support "telemedicine" might be going into the hands of groups that provide abortions.
Basically a senate version of a House bill already passed as part of an agricultural amendment, DeMint believes that the move will further place rural women out of reach of any potential of obtaining a legal, safe abortion.
But again, no link to the actual amendment. So I'll keep looking and this bears watching but right now I've got to be heads down on a project for a couple of hours.