Mildred, in her blog post “Abortion Affiliates”, seems to have misunderstood Ft. Worth Representative Lon Burnam’s position on the women's healthcare debate raging in the Texas senate currently. Burnam, a democrat, purposed a bill that would nullify a previous piece of state legislation that currently prohibits health clinics that participate in Medicare (I.E. those in low income areas) from being eligible to offer abortions. He is being fought by Governor Rick Perry, Lt. Governor Greg Abbott, and the rest of Texas house republicans. Burnam believes, as Wendy Davis and the myriad of protesters around the state believe, that offering abortions as part of a healthcare plan is not only right from a political perspective but a medical one as well.
With that clarification out of the way, let me say that I personally disagree with Mildred and agree with rep. Burnam. Firstly, abortions are frequently done for strictly medical reasons, as the life the mother is at stake if she were to carry the pregnancy full term. In these instances, such women are not currently able to get insurance coverage for the potentially life saving procedure that they need. Secondly, it is not the job of healthcare providers to impose their own political or religious views on the patients they serve. They are paid to provide a service in the name of their company, and if they disagree with the policies their company adheres to, they might be better served seeking a different employer. Thirdly, many women in the areas affected by the abortion ban are in a lower income socioeconomic bracket, and while a pregnancy may not put their personal health at risk besides general fatigue and malnutrition, the addition of a helpless child to their lives may push them below the poverty line or worse. Generally speaking, the quality of life for both mother and child is far lower if the mother is unable to provide than it would be for just the mother herself.
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