Nebraska First to Allow Women to Sue for Psychological Injury After Abortion

After Abortion ^ | 7-18-10

[concerned about politics]

And what’s to stop a woman who really wanted the abortion from faking ‘psychological injury’ to get a big payday? This could start a whole cottage industry.

If McDonald's has to put calorie labels on everything so people know exactly what they're eating, shouldn't every avenue to used to alert patients about what they're going to do to their offspring? I think there should be every type of info out there given to patients before they decide - especially 3D ultrasound.
You could say these patients got medication without the warning label or being told about the side affects. Any other industry would be sued for doing the same thing.

[mlizzy]

Someone who even suspects she is pregnant should NOT go to PP, ever. They aren't there to help.

Excellent advice! Words that should be placed on a t-shirt!!

[reasonisfaith]

I think you’e looking too hard for a reason to reject this.

If the screening is done, the woman won’t have a case for negligence. This is elementary.

[circlecity]

Although I have no sympathy for abortion providers and like to see anything that makes their life harder, I have reservations about this. It seems to be trying in large part to eliminate any blame against the women who choose to have abortions. You poor thing - blame it on the providers. This in turn shifts the costs from the recipient’s mistake to the providers. In fact the whole system seems designed to shift the psycological costs of abortion from those responsible to those better able to bear them.

[Non-Sequitur]

If the screening is done, the woman won’t have a case for negligence. This is elementary.

Screening done by who? The personal injury attorney?

[reasonisfaith]

You didn’t read the article.

[reasonisfaith]

“seems to be”

This is where your point fails. The legislation is clearly inspired by the need to address a public health problem.

Placing blame on women who have abortions is not something that really happens on a large scale in our society. Certainly not to the extent that it would motivate legislators to act on it.

[circlecity]

"Placing blame on women who have abortions is not something that really happens on a large scale in our society."

NO but the costs incurred by women who have psycological problems as a result of their free choice IS something that happens on a large scale in our society. And in the age of Obamacare who has the resources to pay those costs - the abortion providers or those who receive the abortions? Just another attempt to transfer wealth while still making abortion free and frequent. What other business has to pay for the buyer's remorse of a customer?

[pitviper68]

There’s already an injunction against our new law. Can someone explain to me, why is it that every good law conservatives try to pass, gets blocked by the courts. Yet, liberals’ stupid laws don’t get injuctions against them?

http://omaha.com/article/20100714/NEWS97/707159891
Excerpt:

Judge blocks abortion screening law
By Martha Stoddard
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — State attorneys were reviewing their legal options Wednesday after a federal judge stopped a new Nebraska abortion law from taking effect.

U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp said in her ruling that the law would place “substantial, likely insurmountable” obstacles in the way of women seeking abortions in the state.

The order temporarily blocks new requirements for doctors to do extensive screening of women seeking abortions.

The screenings were required under a law, passed as Legislative Bill 594, set to take effect Thursday.

[mlizzy]

It seems to be trying in large part to eliminate any blame against the women who choose to have abortions.

Women are being hoodwinked by the devil (and PP!). All women should be alerted at the "clinic," that they are taking the life of their child. Ultrasounds should be provided (or at least suggested) so they can see that this is true. Then there should be pamphlets from The Elliott Institute (for instance) on what it is that possibly awaits them (both physically -- heightened breast cancer possibility -- and psychologically -- drug abuse, alcoholism, depression, weight gain/loss, anxiety, bitterness, anger, and worst of all, silence from shame), as a post-abortive mother. The mothers then should be able to make a true "choice" (their own!) regarding abortion/adoption/carrying to term, and not feel pushed or prodded by relatives, the father of the child, etc. Pregnant women need encouragement and assistance to avoid abortion ... post-abortive women can receiving healing through Rachel's Vineyard.

[reasonisfaith]

This legislation is not a setback for tort reform in general.

It will decrease the number of abortions, however, a battle we should support while waging the larger wars against both the malpractice and the abortion industries.

[circlecity]

"It will decrease the number of abortions, however, a battle we should support while waging the larger wars against both the malpractice and the abortion industries."

Agreed. Like I said, I'm for anything that hurts the abortion industry.

[mlizzy]

Springfield, IL (July 15, 2010) -- A new Nebraska law that is the first to allow women to sue for psychological injuries related to abortion went into effect today, the Stop Forced Abortions Alliance has announced.

Until now, women who experienced psychological problems after an abortion had no standing to sue abortionists for subsequent psychological problems, even when the women were coerced into unwanted abortions. The Nebraska law removes that legal obstacle and also clarifies the standard of care for appropriate pre-abortion screening.

Enactment of Law Survives First Court Challenge

Nebraska's Planned Parenthood affiliate filed suit in federal court last month seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment that the law was unconstitutional. In a preliminary ruling issued yesterday, the federal district court ruled that neither the effective date of the bill nor the law itself could be enjoined, clearing the way for the law to go into effect July 15.

District Judge Laurie Smith Camp also rejected Planned Parenthood's motion to strike the legislature's finding of fact that was included in the law, which states that "the existing standard of care for pre-abortion screening and counseling is not always adequate to protect the health needs of women."

However, the court did grant a preliminary injunction to protect Planned Parenthood and its employees from any criminal penalties, fines, or loss of license in the event they fail to provide the standard of care required by the law. This does not effect women's ability to sue for negligent screening or psychological damages while the injunction is in effect.

Specifically, the injunction prohibits the state attorney general, the governor, and other officers of the state from seeking to use the new law as a basis for revoking the licenses of abortion clinics or for engaging in other disciplinary measures against clinics or their staff.

Proponents said the law was never intended to provide for prosecution by state authorities, but was simply meant to allow abortion patients or their survivors to more easily hold abortion providers accountable for negligent screening. That aspect of the law has not been affected by the ruling.

Number of Coerced Abortions Expected to Drop

A key aspect of the law is that it exposes abortion providers to lawsuits for negligence if they fail to ask a woman if she is being pressured, coerced or forced to undergo an unwanted abortion.

This could affect many women, as one study found that 64 percent of women who had abortions reported that they felt pressured by others to do so. Numerous studies have also shown that women who are pressured to abort are at much higher risk of experiencing psychological complications following the abortion.

While the new law does not ban abortions in such cases, supporters say it will give women who are being pressured or coerced an opportunity to discuss the situation and receive information about how coerced and unwanted abortion increases their risk of more severe post-abortion reactions. Supporters believe this new standard for screening and counseling will help prevent many unwanted abortions.

Paula Talley, an organizer of the Stop Forced Abortions Alliance and backer of the bill, believes having such a law 30 years ago would have prevented her from undergoing an unwanted abortion.

"If this law had been in place in 1980, I would have been spared the years of grief, depression, and substance use which followed my own unwanted abortion," Talley said. "My abortion counselor never asked if I was being pressured, nor did she inquire about my psychological history. If she had, she would have known that I was at higher risk of experiencing post-abortion trauma because I had a history of depression."

Talley said that she was being pressured to abort by her employer, an issue that was never addressed by abortion clinic staff. Although she had moral beliefs against abortion recognized by researchers as a risk factor for psychological problems after abortion--feelings of fear and panic made her feel she had to undergo the abortion.

"If the abortion counselor had bothered to ask the right questions, she would have seen that I was more likely to be hurt than helped by the abortion," Talley added. "But I was never warned. They just took my money, and my baby, no questions asked."

Neglected Feature of Roe v. Wade Will Be Easier to Enforce

Supporters of the negligent screening law also say that it helps to eliminate legal obstacles that allow women to hold abortion providers properly liable for failing to give them medically sound advice.

Dr. David Reardon, a biomedical ethicist and director of the Elliot Institute, a post-abortion research and educational organization, said that abortion providers have often shirked their duty to provide each woman with an informed medical opinion that is appropriate to her unique case.

"Any counseling provided by abortion clinics is often 'one-size fits all,'" Reardon said. "That's very inappropriate, since each woman has circumstances and risks that are unique to her."

Reardon, who has done extensive research regarding post-abortion complications, believes inadequate screening is an act of medical negligence.

"Without screening, it is impossible for a doctor to give informed medical advice," he said. "Performing an abortion on request, regardless of the risks, is contrary to both medical ethics and the stated principles found in Roe v. Wade."

He pointed out that "if a woman walks into a doctor’s office and says, 'I have a lump in my breast and need a mastectomy,' and the doctor says 'Jump up on the table and we'll take it right out,' we don't call that medicine. We call that malpractice."

Reardon also said out that many abortion facilities appear to ignore the fact that many women are pressured or coerced into undergoing unwanted abortions to satisfy the demands of boyfriends, husbands, parents, employers, or even their doctors or counselors.

"Many women report that their abortion counselors sided with an abusive partner or parent in pushing them to have an unwanted abortion," he said. "Without this new law, women in such cases have little or no prospect of ever holding abortion clinics accountable for such egregious behavior."

In short, Reardon believes the Nebraska law will clarify a neglected principle found in Roe v. Wade. While Roe determined that women had a right to seek an abortion in consultation with their physician, the Supreme Court also ruled that "the abortion decision in all its aspects is inherently, and primarily, a medical decision, and basic responsibility for it must rest with the physician."

Reardon said this means doctors have an obligation to protect women from unwanted, unsafe, and unnecessary abortions.

"This goal can only be accomplished by removing the legal barriers that prevent women from holding doctors properly liable for inadequate screening and counseling," he said.

Link.

[DustyMoment]

I saw an undercover video of it; the tactic depends on misinformation (telling the mother that the baby is a formless blob) and stressing the negatives of motherhood (oh, you don't want to have to deal with a baby crying all the time, and the piles of dirty diapers, etc.).

There is abundant information on the tactics of PP that is available to anyone who wants to thoroughly understand what they are getting into. Too many people don't want to know what they are getting into - they want to hear that they are doing the right and necessary thing by aborting their child.

The pressure argument also doesn't fly - at least, not with me. When someone starts putting a lot of pressure on me to do something that I'm not sure is right or wrong, it is a signal to me that something is wrong. As many lawyers will tell you, if a deal is good today, it will still be good tomorrow. If it isn't, take your money and run as hard as you can the other way.

[sportutegrl]

I have always felt that the vast majority of abortions are by girls who have been coerced into it by their lover/boyfriend/abuser. Get the girl alone and ask her if she is doing this of her own free will, or if she is being pressured to do something she may not want to do.

Once men realize that they may not be able to get rid of their baby, maybe they will stop abusing young girls, or maybe they will wait to get married, or maybe they will marry the girl that they got pregnant.

I also think the feminist position should be pro life. Based on my own, non scientific poll, more men than women are pro choice, often for selfish reasons.

[mlizzy]

The pressure argument also doesn't fly - at least, not with me.

An unplanned pregnancy causes amazing angst, and it's very easy to pressure an anxious woman, especially one who has literally no one to "run as hard as you can the other way" to.

[mlizzy]

I have always felt that the vast majority of abortions are by girls who have been coerced into it by their lover/boyfriend/abuser.

Yes! The last girl I saw exit Planned Parenthood (so young, beautiful and vibrant when she was walking into PP), was leaning heavily on a handsome young male's arm slowly walking to the car following her abortion. She seemed filled with grief; it certainly was not "relief" that I saw. As they drove out (took them a very long time to get situated), a pro-life counselor handed the driver pamphlets, and he said, "It's done. It's over with," and he rolled up the window and left. Her beautiful baby was dead; her own "pain" just beginning ... so very sad ... pray to end abortion ... (and if anyone can, please come out to a PP and protest/pray; one day previous to the above, we had a "save" -- the most beautiful answer to prayer I've ever seen ...

[DustyMoment]

An unplanned pregnancy causes amazing angst, and it's very easy to pressure an anxious woman, especially one who has literally no one to "run as hard as you can the other way" to.

Thus, the reason that children, who don't fully understand the consequences of their actions, should not be engaging in adult behaviors. If people don't use condoms and/or other birth control methods to prevent unplanned pregnancies, despite ALL of the information that is available, whose fault is that?? It's the same thing as smokers claiming they didn't know that smoking causes cancer.

[mlizzy]

It's the same thing as smokers claiming they didn't know that smoking causes cancer.

I think most women know that sex can cause pregnancy. What they aren't given is any direction or compassion if/when they *do* become pregnant, the time they need it the most. Remember, their own families are usually against their pregnancies. "You make your bed, you lie in it," sort of thing.

And I do not feel anyone should be having sex until they are married. (Follow Christ's rules, and one's load will be lighter sort of thing.)

[Salvation]

Thanks for posting this. I saw it earlier. Some feathers are going to be ruffled by this!