South Dakota needs more small government conservatives

Yes, you read that here.

A West River State Representative disagreed with me on HB 1217, which not only will require a 72-hour waiting period, but insults women by requiring them to visit a pregnancy "help center" for "consultation" because no woman could be smart enough to make her own (constitutionally protected) health care decisions. Both the RCJ and Argus Leader have come out strongly against this bill.

I urge you to contact your State Senators to discourage them from passing this bill, which is against the will of the people of South Dakota -- and most likely unconstitutional as well.

South Dakota Healthy Families has the lowdown:

Under the bill, all women seeking an abortion would have to attend a “counseling” session at a biased Crisis Pregnancy Center alone, with no support from loved ones, and face a volunteer whose goal is not the patient’s personal health or well-being, but instead to talk her out of an abortion regardless of her health needs. HB1217 would also allow anti-choice activists to view private medical records. These ideologues have a well-documented history of lies and are not bound by the same confidentiality as your doctor or any other true healthcare provider.

Here was the argument from said Legislator:

Curtis, I don't think it is unreasonable to ask a woman to have a reflective period before terminating the life of her unborn child. As Rep. Verchio stated on the floor of the House, he visited his personal physician about a vasectomy...the doc said to bring his wife back with him for another visit, a week later. At that time, they discussed the issue at length, and set up an appointment a couple of weeks later. The point being, he had an ongoing relationship with his doc.......it wasn't a slam, bam, thank you mamn. Simply a 5 min. visit with a strange doc does not a relationship make. This is life and death for their unborn baby. Let's let them take a little more time, and gather a little more info. in making such a life altering decision.

My response:

Rep. Verchio's story is apples and ... automobiles. There is no comparison, and frankly I'm offended by Rep Verchio's saying so.

Doctors who perform vasectomies are not under threat of death and their clinics are not targeted for bombing. This situation where women are only able to obtain these services from an out of state doctor they do not know was created by anti-choice terrorism.

Abortions are legal. Roe is the law of the land.

Bills like this do nothing but cast our State in a bad light, and do harm to women who need access to comprehensive health care and their families.

If we have to be the 6th most conservative state, why can't we have conservatives with a small c-- like the wonderful ones in Wyoming -- that, uh, believe in small government:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy