The problem with those who don't support "health of the mother" exceptions is that they claim that they *do* support those exceptions, but when you read the text of the laws, you find that instead of a doctor's being able to rely on their own best judgement, the laws in the red states leave out exactly who's judgement is determinative. W…
The problem with those who don't support "health of the mother" exceptions is that they claim that they *do* support those exceptions, but when you read the text of the laws, you find that instead of a doctor's being able to rely on their own best judgement, the laws in the red states leave out exactly who's judgement is determinative. Which means that a prosecutor can supply their own opinion of how to treat a medical emergency. On top of that, some red states allow these exceptions not as part of the definition of an illegal abortion, but only as an affirmative defense, meaning the doctor is guilty of the crime, but once present in a court, can raise this as a defense; that increases the cost of defending oneself significantly.
As for fetal heartbeat bills, there are two problems. First, they frequently require a decision by 6 weeks, which is before many women know they're pregnant. More importantly, a fetus has a heartbeat way before it is conscious or has any real brain activity. And while a heartbeat *sounds* vaguely like an interesting developmental stage, it really has no connection to anything like feeling pain, being conscious, or having high level brain activity. After all, when someone has a heart transplant we don't treat it as assisted suicide. The heart is just one more organ, although an important one.
The problem with those who don't support "health of the mother" exceptions is that they claim that they *do* support those exceptions, but when you read the text of the laws, you find that instead of a doctor's being able to rely on their own best judgement, the laws in the red states leave out exactly who's judgement is determinative. Which means that a prosecutor can supply their own opinion of how to treat a medical emergency. On top of that, some red states allow these exceptions not as part of the definition of an illegal abortion, but only as an affirmative defense, meaning the doctor is guilty of the crime, but once present in a court, can raise this as a defense; that increases the cost of defending oneself significantly.
As for fetal heartbeat bills, there are two problems. First, they frequently require a decision by 6 weeks, which is before many women know they're pregnant. More importantly, a fetus has a heartbeat way before it is conscious or has any real brain activity. And while a heartbeat *sounds* vaguely like an interesting developmental stage, it really has no connection to anything like feeling pain, being conscious, or having high level brain activity. After all, when someone has a heart transplant we don't treat it as assisted suicide. The heart is just one more organ, although an important one.