Roundup: Idaho Considers Conscience Clause, The Pill Destroys “Marital Harmony”

Idaho begins to look at a conscience clause for physicians while one Irish pharmacist launches a book tour off of his dislike of contraception.

Doctors in Idaho are now being given the option of refusing to participate in services they find immoral, thanks to a new Idaho senate bill being considered.  Senate Bill Number 1353 will provide a conscience clause to give medical professionals a chance to opt out of anything they find offensive.  From CBS 3 in Idaho:

“There are some medical practitioners who avoid certain service realms. Certain doctors don’t perform abortions and that’s their right to choose that,” said Rillema, the Director of the Family and Community Health Services Division at The Eastern Idaho Public Health District.

Oddly enough, allowing all doctors to chose not to hand out birth control is supposed to somehow not effect anyone who is seeking care through the state.

Rillema knows the bill won’t change a lot at the Public Health District, so if you do your family planning through the state, don’t worry.

“All of our clinicians are interested in providing family planning reproductive services, so there would be no reason for any of them to refuse services that we provide,” said Rillema.

I anxiously await the first discrimination lawsuit from a physician who claims he or she was not hired for a job with the Public Health Department due to religious beliefs.  After all, losing his job because he wouldn’t dispense contraception is what happened to Patrick McCrystal in Ireland in 1993.  Luckily, Patrick has managed to convert his misfortune into a book tour. Via Catholic News Agency:

Patrick McCrystal, an Irish pharmacist and pro-life leader, has authored a book on the effect contraception has on marriages and on society as a whole. He calls contraception “a most potent destroyer of marital harmony,” urging couples to re-center their marriages upon Jesus Christ. This week he is in New York City for the launch of his second book, “Who’s at the Centre of Your Marriage: The Pill or Jesus Christ?”

McCrystal considers himself to be among the brightest of leaders on the subject, now that Raquel Welsh has come out as anti-birth control:

“Most would be surprised to see me and Raquel Welch lining up on the same side of a debate, but she makes some very smart and accurate points in her column,” McCrystal commented. “While her diagnosis is correct, my book goes a step further to offer the prescription that can help heal ailing couples: re-centering their marriage on Christ.”

Sadly, he could not get Welch to tour with him for his latest book.  Instead, however, he has “Tony and Ann Crowe,” a “a young Irish couple who will explain how contraception almost destroyed their marriage.”

Mini-Roundup: For a little pre-holiday frivolity, I give you the most difficult to follow editorial ever, the most utterly clueless Big Brother contestant ever, and the most painful to watch television scene involving a former governor’s teen-mom daughter, ever.

Have a happy Fourth of July, everyone!

July 1, 2010

As Fourth at Supreme Court, Kagan Goes Gender Lite – Women’s eNews

Nigeria: Judge Calls for Reform of Abortion Law – AllAfrica.com

Jane Norton Wants a Pro-Abortion, Tax and Spend Senator as a Mentor – RedState

Senate Panel Likely to OK Kagan for Supreme Court Despite Abortion Issues – LifeNews.com

Sen. Feinstein Questions Kagan On Abortion Views In Second Day Of Judiciary … – Medical News Today

What About Tom Coburn’s ‘Expansive View of the Commerce Clause’?  – Reason Online

Nebraska Ban on Late-term Abortions Based on Fetal Pain May Not Get Lawsuit – LifeNews.com

Cheat sheet: Obama’s evangelical cabinet on immigration reform – CNN

Pennsylvania Poll Has Pro-Life Pat Toomey Leading Pro-Abortion Joe Sestak  – LifeNews.com

Hearing set on challenge to Neb. abortion law – CNBC

Kagan Abortion Memo “Troubles” Hatch – KCPW

New Antiabortion Plates Ignore Fact: Best Way to Choose Life Is Probably to …  – Bostonist

Big Brother 12’s Ragan Fox makes abortion and battered women jokes about … – WireUpdate

American Culture and the Muslim World – Brookings Institution

Oral Statement of Dr. Charmine Yoest of Americans United for Life During Kagan … – Christian News Wire

Kagan ‘More Radical’ than Supreme Court on Abortion – Human Events

Senators urged not to repeal policy on abortions in military hospitals – The Tidings

Nebraska Law to Require Mental Health Screening Before Abortion? – Opposing Views

Number of abortions continues to fall in Duluth, statewide – Duluth News Tribune

Judicial Activists, Forced Fruit and “Twilight”: The Kagan Charade Remembered – CBS News

Wild Sex In Nevada Leads To Free Birth Control – Mesquite Local News

New health chief on family planning: Make all methods available – Malaya

Re-center marriages from contraception to Christ, author says – Catholic News Agency

Women legislators urge NJ Gov. Chris Christie to restore funding for clinics … – NorthJersey.com

Young? Female? Avoid being misdiagnosed – msnbc.com

The fall of abstinence-only – Salon

Idaho doctors can now refuse some treatments – KIDK

UN Presses Asia To Counter Rising HIV Infections – Voice of America

July 2, 2010

Hyper-Partisan Elena Kagan’s Road to the High Court – Human Events

New Jeresy family planning cuts are foolish – The Star-Ledger – NJ.com

Teen Pregnancy Is a Public Health Issue, Not a Political One! – Momlogic.com

Family planning clinics in North Jersey brace for closings, cutbacks – NorthJersey.com

Gambia: YAM Sensitisation Forum Ends in Pakalinding – AllAfrica.com

Governor Chris Christie Battles Women – The State Column

Family planning bill revived in House – Philippine Star

Waiting Lists for HIV Drugs in the US–Again – ColorLines magazine

Law should not reinforce HIV stigma – The Guardian

New Program Aims To Lower Teen Pregnancy Rate Among Hispanics – Medical News Today

More Women in Need of Publicly Family Funded Planning Services  – Docuticker

Midwives a step closer to independence – Albany Times Union