This is going to be a nutty one. My house is still nowhere near clean enough for my in-laws, but they’re coming to visit anyway. I have to head out in a few minutes to run errands and help with 8-year-old daughter’s end of school party, and they’ll be here before I get back. Oh well, they love me anyway.
A couple of observations first about the women’s clinic here in Birmingham that had its license suspended. A young woman visited the clinic, got an ultrasound, was told she was 6 weeks pregnant, and was given RU-486 in order to induce a medical abortion — this despite a critically high blood pressure reading. A few days later, she delivered a full-term, stillborn baby. It’s alleged that none of her care at the clinic was provided by a physician.
This is a horrible outcome, and I suspect that anti-abortion activists will jump on it as another good reason to completely ban abortion. I see something different. I see a legal procedure that has been so marginalized that many physicians are afraid to perform it, so women can’t get the best possible care. I see sex education so flawed that a woman could be 9 months pregnant and not know it. I see a health care system so broken that she had to go to a clinic rather than her own personal physician. And, clearly, I see a clinic that needs to upgrade drastically its quality assurance, employee training, approach to medical procedures, and concern for patients’ well-being.
Okay, I’m out of here. Consider this an open thread for news of the day and other interesting stuff.