October 10, 2009
THE SCARLET A IN OKLAHOMA.... If you haven't heard about the new abortion restrictions in Oklahoma, take a few minutes to watch this segment from "The Rachel Maddow Show" from the other day. (The segment on Oklahoma begins in earnest around the 2:12 mark.)
The Atlantic's Tali Yahalom had a good item summarizing the problem this week: "A new Oklahoma law will require the details of every abortion to be posted on a public website.
Mothers -- or would-be mothers, rather -- will be prompted to answer 37 questions that range from her marital status and race to how many times she's ever been pregnant."
Yahalom added, "The website, which will cost $200,000 per year to implement, is intended to prevent or decrease the number of abortions in Oklahoma, but the bill has already raised considerable debate, attracting opposition from the Center For Reproductive Rights and former Oklahoma Representative Wanda Jo Stapleton, among others. This questionnaire not only forces doctors into an uncomfortable predicament -- failure to disclose this information would result in 'criminal sanctions and loss of medical license,' as Salon's Lynn Harris reports -- but, put simply, it shames women. 'They're really just trying to frighten women out of having abortions,' Kery Parks, director of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma, told Harris. Indeed, in a small town, probing details would easily identify the woman with a proverbial scarlet A."
Rachel added, "The 37 questions suggested in the legislation include the date and location of the abortion, the patient's age, marital status, race, education, state or county of residency and history of pregnancies. Also, the reason the patient is seeking an abortion, the method of payment that the patient uses, whether the patient was an employee at the time of the abortion. But the law doesn't just stipulate that physicians ask questions like those. They're then required to send the completed questionnaires to the state where the Health Department will use the information from each woman's form to create an annual abortion report to be posted online. They want to post this stuff online."
Tell us again, conservatives, about the importance of keeping government out of health care.
—Steve Benen 10:15 AM
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misogyny pure and simple. there is a lot of hate in oklahoma, as proved by their rather insanely hateful political reps. but this law is about as blatant an example of misogyny as any in western 'civilization' since ancient Greece.
Posted by: neill on October 10, 2009 at 10:17 AM | PERMALINK
It appears that the Taliban has taken taken control of the government in Oklahoma.
Watch for the closing of the schools next. . .
Posted by: DAY on October 10, 2009 at 10:19 AM | PERMALINK
In other parts of the civilized world there's a legal duty to keep medical records secret.
Doesn't that exist in the USA?
Posted by: Vokoban on October 10, 2009 at 10:20 AM | PERMALINK
Not taking a position on abortion one way or another my question is "How does this not violate federal privacy laws (HIPAA, etc)?
Posted by: veronica on October 10, 2009 at 10:25 AM | PERMALINK
If ever there were a website for 4chan to DDoS the shit out of, this one is it.
Posted by: calipygian on October 10, 2009 at 10:28 AM | PERMALINK
I'd say it's virtually certain that this Oklahoma state law violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which contains very strong rules about protecting what it calls Protected Health Information, or PHI. The intent is to protect individual privacy from disclosure of health care statistics or information, even if the disclosure is well-intentioned. PHI specifically says you can't specify in public information an in individual patient's residence below the state level. You also cannot identify the service a patient receives, the specific date the patient receives the health care service. Intentional release of PHI without patient consent is a federal civil rights violation. Attorneys, get to work.
Posted by: rdb on October 10, 2009 at 10:30 AM | PERMALINK
Just another note. Before it was passed, HIPAA was known as the "Kennedy-Kassebaum" bill, for Sens. Ted Kennedy and Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kansas). If Oklahoma gets slapped down for this, we can again thank Ted Kennedy for his wisdom and foresight.
Posted by: rdb on October 10, 2009 at 10:32 AM | PERMALINK
Out of curiosity, is one of those 37 questions, who the father of the aborted fetus is? or how about listing the names all the males the female has ever had sex with? Hey Oklahoma, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, no?
Posted by: Little Miss Attila on October 10, 2009 at 10:36 AM | PERMALINK
I'd say it's virtually certain that this Oklahoma state law violates the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
The lawsuit is probably the whole point.
This is pure symbolic politics, even if HIPAA is violated, the data is never collected, and the website never goes on line.
There will be a lawsuit, and everyone connected with the plaintiff, the state of Oklahoma, will get another entry for their wingnut resume, as well as awards of the Order of Reagan, Second Class, for all. The litigation will fill the newspapers, making sure the issue is never far from public view. Every politician in the state will be called upon for comment.
If they hit the jackpot, the case -- actual implementation of the law stayed the whole while, but who cares, since the law's actual working is not the point -- will work its way up the appellate ladder, landing in the Supreme Court right around the time of some election or other.
I have no use for what these hateful lunatics are doing, but their technique is impeccable.
Posted by: Davis X. Machina on October 10, 2009 at 10:38 AM | PERMALINK
Wow.
I did not know this, but apparently in Oklahoma you can get pregnant without the help of a man. It is not necessary to publish the various private details of the potential father.
That's an interesting level of misogyny they've got going there.
Why do American men hate women?
Posted by: zhak on October 10, 2009 at 10:38 AM | PERMALINK
Could someone explain the phrase "4chan to DDoS the shit out of it"? I'm just curious.
Posted by: Charles on October 10, 2009 at 10:39 AM | PERMALINK
EXACTLY LMA @ 10:36
Not only that but a complete credit history to go along with that method of payment financial information.
And it seems appropriate to revoke drivers licenses, library cards, trash credit histories etc. The solution is to move out of the state to keep OK clean and pure.
Posted by: Kevin on October 10, 2009 at 10:43 AM | PERMALINK
In issue that never gets discussed when the topic of abortion is brought up is how would the character of our country change if we decided to initiate a blanket prohibition against abortion, knowing that the realites of life are such that millions of women and their partners would still seek them out for a whole variety of reasons.
Isn't it true that if we were really serious about outlawing abortion that we would have to create a Department of Conception or some such thing that would require anyone who is pregnant to register with the government and have their pregnancy monitored by government agents or their representataives until that pregnancy was brought to term to ensure compliance with the law.
How we treat unwanted pregnancy is important theologically, ethically, and philosophically. It is, in short, an important subject for education and efforts at moral persuasion -- missionary work. But to use the government to restrict it will change the very nature of the government itself. An authoritarian code of personal conduct that aims to regulate individual behavior at this intimate level, requires an authoritarian state to enforce it. The real issue here, as evidenced by what Oklahoma is proposing, isn't really abortion at all. It is whether we want to live in a police state.
Posted by: Ted Frier on October 10, 2009 at 10:48 AM | PERMALINK
@ Davis X. Machina: Actually the plaintiff will likely be a doctor who would be compelled to violate HIPAA by this law.
Posted by: SKI on October 10, 2009 at 10:58 AM | PERMALINK
Some of the questions identify if the woman having the abortion is a state employee! While the intent of the law may be multifunctional, it looks to me like it's largely a huge data mining operation designed to provide statistical ammo for future, unspecified anti-choice battles. It states several times that the data is to be gathered without identifying information, but that seems to be unrealistic. I don't know how any Republican legislator in OK can complain with a straight face after this that health care reform is a government takeover of health care!
I propose that someone create a website detailing and posting the private lives of all the legislators responsible for this monstrosity. Dig deep and make it public.
Posted by: Varecia on October 10, 2009 at 11:05 AM | PERMALINK
And why isn't a man's vasectomy subject to the same law? Oh yeh, women are cattle owned by men in Oklahoma. I say let the OK state join with Texas and form their own country. We don't need these dangerous hate mongers involved in our lawmaking.
Posted by: Bob Currie on October 10, 2009 at 11:08 AM | PERMALINK
If you live in Oklahoma, you are an ignoramus.
That's all there is to it.
Posted by: JW on October 10, 2009 at 11:11 AM | PERMALINK
If you live in Oklahoma, you are an ignoramus.
That's all there is to it.
Right, because there's no such thing as a majority and a minority, and every thing an insane Oklahoma winger does is endorsed by every single other Oklahoman without exception.
Posted by: shortstop on October 10, 2009 at 11:19 AM | PERMALINK
The report says the patient will be "prompted" to answer questions. Suppose she answers "None of your business"? Then what?
Posted by: gelfling545 on October 10, 2009 at 11:25 AM | PERMALINK
Somebody needs to write another book, this one called "What's the Matter with Oklahoma?" Some very strange news has been coming out of that benighted backwater this past year. Sally Kern, a well known wingnut in the state legislature and a John Birch stalwart, introduced a bill blaming the nation's economic problems on sexual debauchery. Last summer the OKC-based Hobby Lobby company published full page ad's all over the U.S. proclaiming this "A Christian Nation" thus not only insulting the patriotism of millions of Americans but choosing Independence Day to do so, a particularly nice touch. Now this.
We can only hope for the day when the Industrialized West has freed itself from its dependency on fossil fuels so that primitive but oil-rich desert strongholds like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Texas and Oklahoma can sink back into the obscurity they deserve.
Posted by: Mandy Cat on October 10, 2009 at 11:31 AM | PERMALINK
Has there ever been a society on this planet that works so diligently to punish its citizens for something that is LEGAL???
Posted by: Roddy McCorley on October 10, 2009 at 11:34 AM | PERMALINK
Just curious - are there any penalties in the law for submitting false information? I'd say that any and all doctors required to submit the info should simply submit as a matter of civil disobedience, a fictional patient. Hester Prynne, perhaps, residing in Salem, Massachusetts.
Posted by: g on October 10, 2009 at 12:01 PM | PERMALINK
This gave me a great idea for helping keep the community safe, and lower the risk of STDs:
Post online all information on men who have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease.
The list should include their name, their address and phone number, their marital status, their occupation, their diagnosis (including any previous diagnoses), the names of all the people they have had sex with, and if applicable, how they paid for the sex.
Posted by: 2Manchu on October 10, 2009 at 12:12 PM | PERMALINK
I was born in Oklahoma and left as soon as I could (i.e. late 1970s). The place was always severely reactionary but just seems to get worse every year. For the record, however, I have a number of friends, liberal activists, who have chosen to stay there. They're not stupid. I left, but theyve chosen to stand and fight, against daunting odds. I admire them.
Posted by: Charles on October 10, 2009 at 12:12 PM | PERMALINK
As I've said in the past...I recently moved back home to Missouri after spending 2 years working in Oklahoma. I have never met a more uneducated, dirt-poor, stubborn, ignorant people in all my life. Not all ae like that, but unfortunately, the majority are.
You have to remember...they (Oklahomans) are the self-described buckle of the Bible belt...and the Republicants milk that for all it's worth.
Keep in mind too...Oklahoma leads the nation in teen pregnancies, alcoholism and % of population that is incarcerated.
Any wonder they want to throw more people in jail?
Posted by: PJ on October 10, 2009 at 12:39 PM | PERMALINK
”In other parts of the civilized world there's a legal duty to keep medical records secret.
Doesn't that exist in the USA?”
Sure, its called the HIPPA Act here
But we have the IOKIYR principle as the supreme law of the land that out ranks laws passed by congress and even the US Constitution itself
Posted by: jefft452 on October 10, 2009 at 12:55 PM | PERMALINK
It seems to me that the gist of the legislation is that it is using the OK government to mine data, not for public health reasons, but primarily to assist and advance religious/social conservative activism. That has to be a huge legal problem.
Posted by: Varecia on October 10, 2009 at 1:02 PM | PERMALINK
Are all southerners nutty assholes ?
Posted by: rbe1 on October 10, 2009 at 2:58 PM | PERMALINK
Davis X. Machina says: There will be a lawsuit, and everyone connected with the plaintiff, the state of Oklahoma, will get another entry for their wingnut resume, as well as awards of the Order of Reagan, Second Class, for all.
This!
And it's just a monumental waste of resources for pro-choice orgs to have to take this crap to court.
Posted by: CParis on October 10, 2009 at 4:18 PM | PERMALINK
I am 100% certain this bill flagrantly violates HIPAA and will never be enacted. Not a chance. These rednecks overplayed their hand.
Posted by: Bosch's Poodle on October 10, 2009 at 4:27 PM | PERMALINK
Are all southerners nutty assholes ? -- rbe1, @14:58
Nope; we have some fruity ones, as well. We also have a variety of pricks and other bodily parts, all very healthy (nuts an fruits category; get at least 6 servings a day).
You mean you don't have any where you're at? You don't know what you're missing, bubele. The best stuff sinks to the bottom of the melting pot...
Posted by: exli on October 10, 2009 at 4:45 PM | PERMALINK
A part of my wardrobe got removed in haste, @16:45
Posted by: exlibra on October 10, 2009 at 4:47 PM | PERMALINK
It is dreadful but also highly unlikely to stand up to legal challenges.
I suppose a simpler way of saying "not your business" will be the likelihood that the answers will be minimalist: "first abortion, unemployed, whatever..." Women do know what they are doing and I think something this onerous just helps them to focus and support each other!
Posted by: mflavan on October 10, 2009 at 7:59 PM | PERMALINK
A similar questionnaire will shortly be developed for impotence:
Very well, sir, and how will you be paying for your implant today? Please fill out section 14.
Thank you.
Annnnnnnnnnnnnd... POST!
Posted by: toowearyforoutrage on October 10, 2009 at 10:59 PM | PERMALINK
What do you expect from an Okie? But is there any reason that anyone has to tell the truth? I don't see how the government can require that if they don't give something in return, like paying for the abortion. And if they put a clause at the bottom stating that the information is true, just run a line through it before sending it to the state.
Posted by: Texas Aggie on October 10, 2009 at 11:09 PM | PERMALINK
Perhaps Timothy McVeigh had a point.
Posted by: Dilbert on October 11, 2009 at 12:02 AM | PERMALINK
This may actually cause a bit of a backlash. I say that because this law affects middle-class women as well as poor women. For the most part, anti-abortion laws are crafted to not make life too difficult for the kind of people who make campaign contributions. Remember when South Dakota passed an anti-abortion law and it got overturned via referendum? Maybe that will happen in OK.
Posted by: amorphous on October 11, 2009 at 2:48 PM | PERMALINK
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Posted by: phen375 on January 23, 2011 at 9:47 AM | PERMALINK