The governor of Louisiana wants not only to be your next president, but to drive abortions back underground as well.
Two days before speaking at the Iowa Republican State Convention and shortly after alluding to a possible 2016 run, Bobby Jindal signed a bill further restricting Louisianan clinics with a Baptist church as witness. HB 388 is just one of the many targeted regulation of abortion provide laws (TRAP) in the U.S.
The law requires facilities that perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital that provides OB/GYN services and is located within a 30-mile radius. Basically, a clinic can only be legal if a nearby hospital agrees with its mission. Between religiously affiliated hospitals and the necessity of hospitals to please board members and donors, the outlook for gaining admitting privileges is grim for abortion providers in Louisiana.
If Bobby Jindal’s law has the intended effect, Shreveport is expected to have the only clinic with admitting privileges and, consequently, the only abortion provider left in the state of Louisiana. Yes, the same state where half of all pregnancies in 2012 were unintended. Both Baton Rouge and New Orleans (two of Louisiana’s biggest cities) are 4-6 hours away by car from Shreveport, if the patient in question even has access to a car.
As we know, clinics provide more than just abortion services. They provide the crucial reproductive and sexual healthcare desperately needed in a state ranking #3 in the U.S. for highest STD rates and #6 for teen pregnancy rates. While the bill was written under the guise of “protecting women’s health”, restricting people’s ability to make their own informed choices is pretty much the opposite of protection. Protection from “liberal” values, maybe, but certainly not protection from unwanted side effects of being sexually active.
People don’t owe you their body, Bobby. Not now, not ever. Stop regulating your citizens, and start providing for them. Perhaps start by focusing on how 44% of your public schools earned a D or F grade, leaving two-thirds of your students achieving below grade level? Just a thought.
Images via: desmoinesregister.com, rhrealitycheck.org, thepeoplesayproject.org, huffingtonpost.com
