More federal intervention in medical decisions
Well, the Republicons are kinda being consistent... they're still hypocritically abandoning their commitment to federalism but they're at least making sure there's going to be more tax cuts...
Doctors Are Warned on Fetus Care (washingtonpost.com): "David Grimes, a licensed obstetrician/gynecologist who previously worked for the abortion surveillance division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the act and yesterday's instructions were medically unnecessary.
'I don't see this as a big issue; physicians are going to do what's appropriate,' said Grimes, who now practices in North Carolina. 'It's all rhetoric from persons with political views they want to advance.'
He said the act's definition of alive is 'silly,' given that it implies a fetus miscarried at 14 or 16 weeks 'with no chance of survival' would be legally identified as a living person. Most medical experts agree that a fetus delivered before 23 weeks has little chance of survival, he said.
Some anti-abortion leaders, however, said yesterday's clarification is important.
'The 2002 law and today's actions by the agency were both badly needed, because there are those in our society who have convinced themselves that some newborn infants -- particularly those born alive during abortions, or with handicaps -- are not really legal persons,' said Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee.
HHS officials distributed news of its decision to advocacy groups before the media briefing.
The most significant impact of the 2002 law, Grimes said, was a record-keeping change. Previously, a miscarriage before viability was classified as a spontaneous abortion. Under the new provision, it is recorded as a live birth followed by a neonatal death, and parents can claim the child as a tax deduction for that year, he said."
Doctors Are Warned on Fetus Care (washingtonpost.com): "David Grimes, a licensed obstetrician/gynecologist who previously worked for the abortion surveillance division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the act and yesterday's instructions were medically unnecessary.
'I don't see this as a big issue; physicians are going to do what's appropriate,' said Grimes, who now practices in North Carolina. 'It's all rhetoric from persons with political views they want to advance.'
He said the act's definition of alive is 'silly,' given that it implies a fetus miscarried at 14 or 16 weeks 'with no chance of survival' would be legally identified as a living person. Most medical experts agree that a fetus delivered before 23 weeks has little chance of survival, he said.
Some anti-abortion leaders, however, said yesterday's clarification is important.
'The 2002 law and today's actions by the agency were both badly needed, because there are those in our society who have convinced themselves that some newborn infants -- particularly those born alive during abortions, or with handicaps -- are not really legal persons,' said Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee.
HHS officials distributed news of its decision to advocacy groups before the media briefing.
The most significant impact of the 2002 law, Grimes said, was a record-keeping change. Previously, a miscarriage before viability was classified as a spontaneous abortion. Under the new provision, it is recorded as a live birth followed by a neonatal death, and parents can claim the child as a tax deduction for that year, he said."
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