Illinois action blog

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tell your Rep to Keep Politics out of Women's Health!

cow.jpgLast week, two anti-choice bills passed out of the Agriculture Committee, a committee that normally deals with farm and hunting issues. HB 4117 and HB 4085 may soon be considered by the Illinois House of Representatives.

These bills are not about health care. They were designed to put abortion providers out of business and to shame and demean women who are seeking reproductive health care. 

HB 4117 mandates that all facilities where 50 or more abortions are performed in any calendar year must comply with all of the regulations for Ambulatory Surgical Treatment Centers (ASTCs). Illinois law does not require surgeries to be performed only in ASTCs or hospital settings and this bill singles out abortion as the ONLY type of surgical procedure that MUST be performed in an ASTC if there are 50 or more performed at a particular site.

Planned Parenthood accepts reasonable regulation of abortion care for health and safety reasons. However, we object to politically motivated legislation that is designed to close facilities and end access to care. What's more, medical facilities that provide abortion care are already regulated through a variety of laws and rules.

HB 4085 requires that prior to performing an abortion, a physician must offer to perform an ultrasound and allow the patient to view it if she chooses to. It is highly unusual for a law to force a doctor to offer a particular test or procedure regardless of whether or not it is medically indicated. HB 4085 violates the doctor-patient relationship. Health care professionals, not politicians, should decide what care is best for their patients.

We know that HB 4085 is not about improving safety or standards of health care. In fact, the sponsor of this bill stated in committee that this bill is designed to get women to change their minds about having an abortion. This bill is disrespectful to women and assumes that they don't know what they're doing.

Tell your Representative that you won't stand for it. Urge your Representative to vote NO on HB 4117 and 4085. Click here to find your representative.

Thanks for your support!

Technorati tags: Planned Parenthood, women's health, Illinois

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

All men please pay attention.
When it comes to womens reproductive issues, 1 penis equals 0 votes. Are we clear on this?

February 28, 2012 at 12:59 PM  
Blogger Planned Parenthood said...

Well said. It's time for men to either help with women's reproductive issues or stay out of it.

March 5, 2012 at 10:22 AM  

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