Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 15, 1993 TAG: 9303150569
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`RIGHT TO KNOW' BILL IS DECEIVING
AS DONNA Ross pointed out in her Feb. 10 letter, Planned Parenthood opposed a "Women's Right to Know" bill in Virginia this year. We weren't alone. Nearly every women's-rights organization in Virginia also opposed the measure. This seems somewhat paradoxical until you read the fine print.The so-called "Women's Right to Know" or "Informed Consent" bill is the newest attempt to make access to abortion more difficult for women. First, it requires the physician, and not a professional counselor, to recite scripted information from the government. The information includes everything from the legal responsibilities of the "father" to assist in the "support of her child" to a list of "agencies which offer alternatives to abortion."
Judging from the long list of topics to be covered in the script, one would presume that the legislation was designed to dissuade women from seeking abortion. However, it's larger intent is to make abortions more than twice as expensive by requiring highly paid physicians (and no one else) to spend their time reading the scripts.
The "Right to Know" bill would also have prohibited a woman from having an abortion for 24 hours after the script is read. For women living near an abortion provider, the waiting period may be little more than an inconvenience. For most women, especially those in Southwest Virginia, such a provision makes access to abortion more difficult.
Roanoke has the only abortion clinic in Southwest Virginia. Women from Bristol, Norton, Middlesboro and much of West Virginia travel up to 500 miles roundtrip to get an abortion in Roanoke. The 24-hour waiting period forces women to make the trip twice, which can be a significant hardship, especially for working women and women with families.
Whether a woman is opting to have an abortion or cancer surgery, she has a right to know about all of the medical options available to her. Virginia law and the ethical standards set by the American Medical Association already require physicians to provide complete and accurate information before they perform medical procedures. Any physicians that do not provide proper counseling can already be prosecuted under Virginia's current legal statutes.
At a time when we urgently need to find ways to make health care accessible to all Americans, the "Women's Right to Know" bill seeks to deny women access to safe and legal medical procedures. Fortunately, our legislators in Richmond were aware of the bill's true intent. They overwhelmingly defeated this misleading and unwarranted piece of legislation. KATHRYN HAYNIE Executive Director Planned Parenthood of The Blue Ridge, Inc. ROANOKE