• Mary Bad Things
  • Posts
  • In An Attempt to Ban Abortion, Anti-Abortion Lawmaker Might Ban Chemotherapy

In An Attempt to Ban Abortion, Anti-Abortion Lawmaker Might Ban Chemotherapy

Stupid is as stupid does

Author

Mary Drummer
03 Feb • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Guardian reports that Wyoming state senator Cheri Steinmetz, in an attempt to ban abortion in her state, may inadvertently end up banning life saving medication and procedures like chemotherapy. 

“No act, treatment or procedure that causes harm to the heart, respiratory system, central nervous system, brain, skeletal system, jointed or muscled appendages or organ function shall be construed as health care unless documented and medically necessitated to save the life of a pregnant woman or in cases in which a licensed physician has determined and documented that a person has no chance of meaningful recovery.”

The  Guardian continues:

“When asked if any doctors or medical professionals were consulted in the authoring of the bill, Steinmetz said that she received the bill from an attorney, and was not sure who the attorney sourced input from [emphasis mine]. She said that the bills’ sponsors were aware of concerns about chemotherapy and other procedures – and that they would sort it out if the bill moved forward.

“We have the best of intentions, and sometimes bills start out a little rockier than others,” Steinmetz said.”

If I were handed a completed assignment, slapped my name on it and turned it in, I would get an “F”. But I guess the Wyoming Senate doesn’t have the same ethical standards as Ms. Glasbrenner’s 7th grade English class. 

If I were a betting woman, I would guess that the legislation introduced came from Americans United for Life (AUL) — an organization that has been described as “the legal arm of the pro-life movement.” 

AUL is a nonprofit that was founded in 1971 with the expressed aim at ending abortion at the state and federal level using an incremental approach. 

“The majority of state legislation protecting mothers and preborn children from abortion has been conceived and drafted by our law and policy experts and passed by state lawmakers working hand-in-hand with our team. Americans United for Life works with state Attorneys General to defend models that have been enacted into law…”

As of 2022, the AUL has had a hand in drafting at least 400 legislative bills in more than 20 states. Two recent cases AUL had a hand in have made it to SCOTUS: 2016’s Whole Women’s Health vs. Hellerstedt out of Texas and 2020’s June Medical Services vs. Russo out of Louisiana. 

And if you think they’re done since Roe was overturned, you’d be very, very wrong.

Their focus now is on banning abortion pills, advocating for the enforcement of the Comstock Act — a dormant law from 1873 that bans the mailing of “obscene” materials — and using the 14th Amendment to assert that fetuses are also guaranteed equal protection under the law and using that argument to push for the passage of  the Abortion Abolition Amendment. 

As a woman who is a direct descendant of Black people who were kidnapped and then enslaved on this stolen land, and then required acts of Congress to legally recognize us as human beings, bastardizing the 14th amendment to justify taking away bodily autonomy for people is so convoluted and cruel that I cannot properly put it into words. But that’s exactly how these people operate; by being cruel.