H.R. 358, The Protect Life Act

As if it weren't enough to attempt to limit women's access to abortion care in the case of rape (HR 3), House Republicans are also trying to block women from receiving abortions as treatment for life-threatening medical emergencies. HR 358, The Protect Life Act, was introduced by Rep. Joe Pitts on January 20, 2011 as an amendment to the new health care law. This bill would allow doctors and hospitals to refuse to treat pregnant women who arrive in emergency rooms with serious health concerns if such treatment involved terminating a pregnancy. And to make matters worse, hospitals would no longer be required to refer women to another hospital that offers the care needed to save their lives. Essentially, HR 358 would make it legal to leave a woman to die rather than terminate her pregnancy.

Needless to say, pregnant women and women who plan to become pregnant should be extremely concerned about this initiative since they could be denied life-saving emergency care during pregnancy. The so called "Protect Life Act" fails to do just that, protect life. The measure would neglect the lives of women who are pregnant and experiencing a serious health crisis in the interest of preserving the life of a fetus.

I wonder if Rep. Pitts were a woman would he would still support denying women abortion care in their last minutes of life or in the case of rape. It wouldn't make much sense for a woman to stand against her right to an abortion if her life were at risk, would it? Well, apparently it does for some women. These restrictions are a great idea in the minds of several Republican women, including Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who are cosponsoring both HR 3 and HR 358. Perhaps they are not concerned about the harms of these pieces of legislation because the women forced to carry their rapist's child and those left to die are likely to be poor. After all, the scope of these bills can only include hospitals and insurance plans that receive federal funding for programs like Medicaid.

Finally, I'll leave a word to those who are on the fence on this issue: making abortion illegal or cost prohibitive doesn't make it go away. Think back to the back alley abortion scene in Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls or talk to women who witnessed the nature of abortion before Roe v. Wade.