politics you crazy devils

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just when i thought i’d gotten away from DC and all the politics, i made the mistake of reading CNN on the train… looks like politicians really do think they know more than doctors, and of course the bush brothers are right in the thick of it all…

first, jeb orders a comatose woman’s feeding tube to be reinserted, overruling a court order that she be allowed to die. the woman has been in a “persistent vegetative state since suffering heart failure in 1990” and the feeding tube was removed 6 days ago at the request of her husband. her doctors say she is “responsive but shows no significant cognitive ability” and that she likely won’t ever recover. so, why keep her alive? her parents think that her husband wants to take the insurance money and run off with another woman. crazy.

then, the senate votes to ban “partial birth” abortions, imposing the “most far-reaching limits on abortion” sine roe v. wade. the arguments on both sides couldn’t be more polarized, check it out:

"This is an enormous day. It's been a long seven-year fight about the issue of partial birth abortion," said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania, chief sponsor of the bill, said the procedure was both inhumane and unnecessary. "We can't allow this kind of brutality to corrupt us. It makes a much more brutal and harsher country if we stand here and say, yes, for whatever reason, we are going to allow this to occur."

"This is indeed a historic day," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, lead opponent of the legislation, "because for the first time in history Congress is banning a medical procedure that is considered medically necessary by physicians."

so on one side, you have “brutal” procedures that are corrupting us and on the other you have “medically necessary” procedures. it’s no secret i’m pro-choice but i think even if i wasn’t i’d question calling all “partial birth” abortions “brutal” procedures… especially with the vague definition of the term that the bill uses. either way, now it goes to pres bush, who has said he’ll sign the bill into law. keep your eyes open for the upcoming court challenges. guaranteed to be interesting.