Last week, the Kentucky Senate told all the women in our state that they are too stupid to make decisions on their own, and the Kentucky House agreed with them.
The bill was Senate Bill 4, euphemistically entitled “an act relating to full disclosure in public safety.” What it was, in truth, was an act to make abortions more difficult to obtain, by making “informed consent” more difficult.
Informed consent means that a woman must speak with a doctor before getting an abortion. This law has been in place since 1998. What SB4 did was change the law to require face-to-face consultation at least 24 hours before having the procedure. Apparently, women are too stupid to be able to understand words over a telephone; instead, they must meet with the doctor where he can draw diagrams or use hand puppets.
The Kentucky House tried to ameliorate this to some extent by amending the law to allow for telemedicine or other videoconferencing technology. While this made the bill better, it still fundamentally tells women that they are not smart enough to manage their own health, and are not aware enough to understand the implications of having an abortion.
In the midst of the “you’re too stupid to do what’s right” message coming out of Frankfurt, let’s at least praise the three persons in the house who voted against the bill: Joni Jenkins, Mary Lou Marzian, and Ruth Ann Palumbo. Thank you, ladies, for seeing this bill for the patriarchal BS it is.
