Posted on 09/13/2007 10:28:45 PM PDT by Coleus
The state's Supreme Court and public advocate dealt dual blows to abortion rights opponents Wednesday, rejecting their arguments on two separate issues. Public Advocate Ronald Chen said he will not seek out all patients who may have been hurt at clinics -- including those that perform abortions -- that have not been inspected every two years, as required by state law. A clinic in Englewood that performed abortions went five years without a state inspection.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, ruled unanimously that doctors are not required to tell patients considering abortions that an embryo is an "existing living human being." Justice Barry T. Albin, writing for the court, said that, "On the profound issue of when life begins, this court cannot drive public policy in one particular direction by the engine of the common law when the opposing sides, which represent so many of our citizens, are arrayed along a deep societal and philosophical divide."
Despite the court's sympathy for the plaintiff's pain in the aftermath of an abortion, Albin continued, "the common law doctrine of informed consent requires doctors to provide their pregnant patients seeking an abortion only with material medical information, including gestational stage and medical risks involved in the procedure." "Under that doctrine of informed consent, the knowledge that plaintiff sought from defendant cannot be compelled from a doctor who may have a different scientific, moral or philosophical viewpoint on the issue of when life begins. Therefore, we do not find that the common law commands a physician to inform a pregnant patient that an embryo is an existing, living human being and that an abortion results in the killing of a family member." The court ruled 5-0. Justice Helen E. Hoens did not participate, nor did Stuart Rabner, who joined the court after the case was heard.
Rosa Acuna sued her doctor after an abortion, saying he did not inform her that she was carrying "an existing living human being." After she realized that the life of a "human being" was ended in the abortion, Acuna suffered from a decline of mental health and was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Acuna's attorney, Harold Cassidy, said she plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It is our judgment that the New Jersey law, as now construed by the New Jersey Supreme Court, presents a clear equal protection violation of Mrs. Acuna's rights, and a misunderstanding and misapplication of the opinions of the United States Supreme Court's decisions as cited in today's opinion." The American Civil Liberties Union praised the decision, calling it "a victory for reproductive rights and free speech in New Jersey." "We are pleased that the court dismissed this frivolous lawsuit against a doctor in New Jersey, which had no basis in law or medicine," said Brigitte Amiri, a staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "This case was nothing more than an underhanded attempt to turn doctors into ideological mouthpieces and subject women to non-medical moral judgments."
But John Tomicki, executive director of the conservative League of American Families, called the decision "tragically absurd," saying it "blatantly ignored common law history." "To likewise state that there is no medical consensus flies in the face of what every high school biology teacher learns -- that human life begins at conception," Tomicki said. In a separate case also spurred by opponents of abortion rights, Chen wrote in a letter that he did not think it would be "practical or effective" for his office to reach out to all the patients who may have been hurt at clinics, including those that perform abortions.
Chen agreed that non-compliance with the biennial inspection schedule raises public health concerns, and said his office will continue to monitor progress toward compliance. "Any individual who believes he or she has been adversely affected by a delay in inspecting an ACF [ambulatory care facility] at which the individual received treatment may certainly contact our Division of Citizen Relations, and we will take appropriate action," Chen added. Chen's letter was in response to a written request from New Jersey Right to Life. The news comes six months after the state Department of Health and Senior Services acknowledged that for five years, it had failed to inspect the state's largest abortion clinic -- Metropolitan Medical Associates in Englewood. The lapse was revealed in a document The Record obtained under the state's Open Public Records Act.
The eventual inspection was prompted by a complaint from a Newark hospital after a woman appeared in the emergency room, hemorrhaging badly after undergoing an abortion at the Englewood clinic. She eventually fell into a four-week coma. After inspecting the clinic, state investigators shut it down, citing violations that posed "immediate and serious risk of harm to patients."
Among other things, it found the clinic failed to maintain the sterility of medical items and lacked an infection control plan. The Englewood clinic, which performs more than 10,000 abortions a year, has since reopened, after renovating its facility and revamping its administrative and medical procedures to meet the health department's demands. "The state Department of Health conducted the most expansive review of any facility in the state," Metropolitan Medical's attorney, Frank Capese, said Wednesday. "We were and continue to be in full compliance with all Department of Health regulations. It sounds like the public advocate is saying it's up to the DOH to enforce all rules and regulations -- and that's exactly what they've been doing. We fully expect they'll continue that oversight."
Marie Tasy, executive director of New Jersey Right to Life, called Chen's decision disappointing. "I think what this letter demonstrates is the public advocate has turned his back on poor women in New Jersey -- the precise population they claim to be advocates for," Tasy said. This article contains material from news services.
The dam is cracking. The flood of Truth cannot be resisted.
Someday, the era of legalized abortion in America will be relegated to the same closet of national shame as the days of slavery.
Human life begins at conception.
However, if the ruling says:”On the profound issue of when life begins, this court cannot drive public policy in one particular direction by the engine of the common law when the opposing sides, which represent so many of our citizens, are arrayed along a deep societal and philosophical divide.”
They are basically saying common law doesn’t compel this. It sounds like the plaintiffs are asking for notification as a common law requirement in a tort. It’s a tough sell, especially to a NJ court.
Simple solution, that some states have adopted: Write the notification requirement into statutory law. We have many medical notification requirements and rights written into law.
Such as consent and 24-hour waiting period:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/38789.php
Abortion notification laws WORK.
GET THIS - PARENTAL NOTIFICATION LAWS CUT TEENAGE STDS:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060927201526.htm
Interesting about the cut in disease! Thanx for the link.
How can a “medical clinic” not be inspected for 5 years? We get inspected all the time and we don’t perform “surgery” or use general anesthetics. Heck restaurants get inspected more often than that. Where does the “safe” part of “safe,legal and rare” come in? Why are abortuaries exempt from even basic cleanliness laws?
That's right. Let's set off more charges. The more the better. The faster the better. Another three thousand innocent, helpless American babes in the womb were brutally killed today, and it will all start over again tomorrow morning...
Because they are religious institutions. Democrats and other secularists worship at them.
Don’t forget that the court decided they would ignore
“the well-known facts of fetal development.”
Blackmun assured us that if the court recognized the unborn chid’s development, the child would be protected under the 14th amendment.
He wasn’t gonna have any of that.
What the heck did she think it was? How pathetic that some of the general public has become so brainwashed by the pro-death side that they don't know what being pregnant is all about.
bttt
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