Wingnuts

Mandatory Nightmares

BooMan points us to Dr. Tiller's admission criteria:

Admission Criteria
In order to offer you an appointment, we require that a physician refer you to our center. In addition, we need your genetic counselor or doctor to provide us with gestational and diagnostic information regarding your pregnancy. Over the past twenty-five years, we have had experience with pregnancy terminations in such situations as anencephaly, Trisomy 13, 18, and 21, polycystic kidney disease, spina bifida, hydrocephalus, Potter's syndrome, lethal dwarfism, holoprosencephaly, anterior and posterior encephalocele, non-immune hydrops, and a variety of other very significant abnormalities.

Contrary to O'Reilly's myths and lies, I don't see "didn't want to miss the rodeo" on this list. Snark aside, it's clear that women weren't walking into Dr. Tiller's clinic, plunking down a dollar an having drive-thru late-term abortions. Likewise, hospitals aren't clogged with people lining up for voluntary amputations. Nearsighted radicals like O'Reilly only see the gruesome nature of the procedure (invasive surgeries are, despite our technological development, still quite barbaric) and fail to grasp the desperate, nightmarish medical scenarios that surround it.

Adding... O'Reilly and others routinely mention the cost of the procedure, $5000, as though it's a frivolous, minor sum. And it is -- for anyone as wealthy as O'Reilly. But imagine being a middle or working class woman who is facing this horrific, potentially life-threatening worst case scenario, and not having the money (or geographic proximity to Wichita) to afford the proper medical care.