The party of fiscal responsibility is hard at work policing uteri in North Dakota:
North Dakota already has spent more than $52,000 defending the 2011 state law, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Records show that Dr. Donna Harrison, the president the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, has billed the state more than $49,000 to act as an expert witness.
In his ruling Monday, Corwin was highly critical of Harrison, saying her “opinions lack scientific support , tend to be based on unsubstantiated concerns and are generally at odds with solid medical evidence.”
The AAPLOG is all for trans-vaginal ultrasound, against insurance paying for contraception, and against Plan B. They think abortions cause breast cancer, cerebral palsy and a host of other ills, and they think the jury is out on whether having an IUD or taking the pill is committing abortion. I’d suggest checking their find a physician page to make sure your or your family member’s OB/GYN isn’t a cult member.
By the way, if anyone can track down the full text of Judge Wickham Corwin’s opinion in the East Central Judicial District of North Dakota, can you please send it to me or post in the comments? It sounds like a great read.
Barry
At this point any physician who’s a member of a ‘pro-life physician’ group should have their license yanked.
currants
Looks like you should (eventually) be able to find it here, but I don’t see it up yet. http://www.ndcourts.gov/court/bios/corwin.htm (Most recent opinions at top.)
mistermix
@currants: That’s as far as I got, too. Maybe someone with Lexis or Westlaw will hook us up.
Botsplainer
I can log Pacer, but don’t know where to put up pdfs for hosting. I’m leaving for work in a half hour (carpet cleaner came this morning – puppies and housetraining, y’know).
c u n d gulag
When did it become Ob/Gyn/GOP?
mistermix
@Botsplainer: Please email it to me. Email is heymistermix – at – gmail.com
It’s not a federal case, though, so don’t know if Pacer will work.
Tom_B
@Barry: “At this point any physician who’s a member of a ‘pro-life physician’ group should have their license yanked.” Wholeheartedly agree. If you won’t do your job, you shouldn’t have it. Them and anti-plan B pharmacists.
geg6
Fuck that crazy beyotch. Fuck her.
And speaking of forced birthers looking like fools, looks like ol’ Cooch may have found himself right there beside Governor Bob “Star Scientific” McDonnell in a spotlight he may not find all that comfortable during a governor’s race.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/16/19502205-cuccinelli-struggles-to-steer-clear-of-virginia-scandal
boatboy_srq
Nice work if you can get it.
Seriously, though: isn’t this bill being paid by the same volk who think that “waste, fraud and abuse” are the causes for all public sector budget deficits?
Citizen_X
@boatboy_srq:
No, that bill is being presented by those grifting Taliban conmen. It’s paid by all us suckers.
amk
Pfft. 49K? This is piddle. Just wait till the 50 billion build that wall and make it double boondoggle kicks in. Rethugs are experts on milking those gobinment teats dry. Just ask mcturtle, cornyn et. al.
Patricia Kayden
Can we assume that the good people of North Dakota are okay with all this anti-reproductive rights legislation? I assume so or they would stop voting for the party passing such restrictive legislation. I’m at a loss as to why women (particularly White women) vote for a party which has been hostile to choice for decades and isn’t going to change anytime soon.
Richard
Liars for Christ.
JCT
A fair number of my clinical colleagues are wing nuts. Some are ultra-religious (a few) while the rest are driven by the almighty dollar. The latter ones make me sick.
I’m relatively new at my current hospital – when I joined one of the admins pulled me aside since they sensed my um, leanings were leftward and hooked me into the “underground” liberal network of fund raisers, etc. Kind of amusing in my very red state.
Punchy
So would this doctor refuse to abort a fetus if the mother’s life was in danger? How does this jive with the Hippo oath? Do they only apply it to the fetus? Do they rename it “The Hypocritic Oath”?
How can such a person be licensed as a doctor, and who would insure such a surely-going-to-be-sued-at-some-point physician?
burnspbesq
The case is captioned MKB Management v. Burdick.
Haven’t found the opinion online yet, but here is a link to the docket sheet.
http://publicsearch.ndcourts.gov/CaseDetail.aspx?CaseID=2027065
cvstoner
It should be noted that these are people who have no understanding of the scientific process, peer review, or any of the other processes behind an objective understand of how things work. All they understand is belief, because belief is fundamental to their world view. Thus, all they need to support their belief is someone else with the thinnest veneer of respectability.
The conservatives deserve to be mocked. But the true villains here are the so-called academics and “learned” individuals who should either know better, or be disqualified based on their obviously unsound or corrupt reasoning. They’re the ones who provide the fig leaves for the rest of the conservative movement’s shenanigans.
Face
Are there any women of any other color in ND?
Botsplainer
@mistermix:
There’s my “derp” moment of the day – my brain saw compass names and district on an android screen, and my immediate assumption was that it was a federal case. I keep forgetting that not everybody aligns court by county, like we do.
MomSense
I think we need some “every sperm is sacred” laws. I mean there is life in that sperm and it shouldn’t ever be wasted. If men are letting all those lives just perish that is abortion!
currants
@mistermix: Tried Lexis, no luck.
thruppence
@Face: 2010 U.S. Census shows over 5% Native American population in North Dakota. Not that they are given a say in state government.
currants
@burnspbesq: I get nowhere with that either–apparently I’m not very adept with Lexis, sorry to say.
burnspbesq
I found the opinion and order granting the preliminary injunction.
Link
88 pages. this judge is thorough.
Still haven’t found what I’m looking for.
Barry
@Punchy: “How can such a person be licensed as a doctor, and who would insure such a surely-going-to-be-sued-at-some-point physician?”
(a) There are some things which lose one’s license, and some which don’t.
(b) I expect that in many states, the physician can’t be sued for this. And more states every day.
raven
Get ready to freak out, Reid is thanking Walnuts!
burnspbesq
@raven:
No nukes today?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Barry: I suspect that there could be a colorable claim of practice that does not meet the generally recognized standard of ob/gyn care if a woman dies from a refusal to terminate when her life is in danger. But that’s only a susipcion.
burnspbesq
Tweeted the AP reporter who wrote the linked article to see whether he can provide a link to the opinion.
Lurker
The AAPLOG is synonymous for crass ignorance of biology and medical sciences. Why are those bigots still allowed to practice? They are a menace to public health.
nodakfarmboy
This past North Dakota legislative session was absolutely insane. The right wing crazies decided to spend a big chunk of the session finding new and interesting ways to attack women’s rights. Meanwhile, they waited until the last night of the session to finally get around to addressing trivial issues, like higher education and public education funding.
A debacle, all around. The few Democratic-NPL representatives we have left in both chambers fought as hard as they could, but when you’re facing down a supermajority, the end result isn’t in much doubt.
I do know that when they brought the bills up for vote, the protests that broke out almost immediately were unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I showed up at a couple, and was shocked at all the new faces. It wasn’t just “the usual suspects”- there were a lot of people who hadn’t been involved in progressive politics who were mad as hell, and willing to get out on the streets and express their displeasure.
Hopefully we’ll be able to put that righteous anger to work come 2014. This state needs a new path.
Keith
@burnspbesq: I think that is an earlier opinion. The AP reports on a shorter 58 page piece, with more recent issuance.
e.a.f.
These compulsory pregnancy people sound like the Taliban when it comes to women’s rights. So what is the differance. O.K. the “birthers” haven’t objected yet to women learning to read and write.
What always amazes me is these compulsory pregnancy people don’t do a lot for the mothers in terms of pre natal care, or post natal care, or ensuring these babies are adequately feed, clothed, and housed. So if this fetus was so important, how did it become so unimportant once it left its mother’s body.
Maybe the Montreal mayoralty candidate is correct, Americans are stupid.