Friday, June 03, 2005

Conservaqueen arguments against PP: fashionably flimsy


Amanda has some interesting
commentary about the Pumps-n-Pearls set's disdain for affordable & accessible Gynecologic care, and how the Cotillionistas are swooning over Indiana AG Steve Carter's Phil Kline impression. Of course, Carter's not fishing for information on the sexual activities of their trust-fund compadres:
Since March, Attorney General Steve Carter has been seeking the records of more than 80 patients younger than 14, saying his Medicaid fraud unit is trying to determine whether children have been neglected because molesting incidents were not reported to the authorities as required.
The sale circulars must have distracted The American Princess from other stories on the subject in which both Carter and Kline claim these investigations aren't about abortion, they are supposedly about uncovering unreported sexual abuse/molestation.
"These are 11, 12, and 13 year old children, allowed to go through the horrific procedure that is abortion, with the support and blessing of the most perverted of organizations, Planned Parenthood. . ."
Under both Indiana and Kansas state law, sexual activity with a minor under the age of 14 is considered sexual abuse/molestation. All states have laws on the books requiring health care providers to report known or suspected sexual abuse/molestation of a child to state authorities. Both AGs have gone fishing in the PP pond by demanding the facilities turn over records for all girls under the age of 14 who used thier services in order to determine if PP reported all of these girls as victims of sexual abuse.

In Kansas, they imply they will actually go after the alleged child molester (if one is discovered) as well as the health-care provider for failure to report the crime. Indiana's AG doesn't even pretend he will investigate, let alone punish, the alleged perpetrator.

Ms. Cockrum also questioned the nature of the investigation by the Medicaid fraud unit, saying most of the cases dated from several years ago and hardly seemed to be the emergency that Mr. Carter has portrayed. She said no case involved abortions.

"If we're really concerned about sexual predators, I'm pretty sure this is not the most efficient and effective way to deal with that," she said. "The most recent case was from 18 months ago. Show me the sense of urgency on this."

Staci Schneider, a spokeswoman for Mr. Carter, a Republican, said the Medicaid fraud office was simply pursuing an issue it was required to pursue, the possibility of wrongdoing by a Medicaid provider - Planned Parenthood, in this case - for failing to report child abuse.
Interestingly, the investigations the AGs and the pretty little conservative girls claim is necessary to protect children from sexual abuse have a very limited focus unlikely to direct legal authorities to offenders. If these investigations really were about protecting children from sexual abuse/molestation, wouldn't it be more logical for both states to investigate a wider array of providers who know their underage patients had sex or situations more likely to provide evidence against those who sexually abused these kids? After all, as the Princess pointed out, Mother Theresa once said "A nation that sacrifices its children is a nation without hope" and they seem to be disregarding victims who utilized other services to focus on investigating PP instead of trying to identify and prosecute child molesters.


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