5 Apr 2011 3:07 pm
For Cannonpointer.......Medical Accuracy Takes A Back Seat To GOP Big Government - Rachel Maddow VideoTranscript:MADDOW: If you live in the great state of Indiana, the next time you go see your doctor, you may want to arrange maybe carpooling, some sort of a larger vehicle maybe than you might otherwise take to a doctors appointment. You may also want to call ahead and ask for some sort of special group seating accommodations for the doctors visit, because the way things are going in Indianapolis, before long, it is not just going to be you and your doctor at your doctors appointment, it is going to be you and your doctor and the Indiana state legislature, all together collectively making decisions about your medical future.As if they were creating a textbook case study for conservatism of the big intrusive government variety, conservatives in the Indiana House have passed legislation that will force your doctor to read you a script written by the Indiana state legislature. Your doctor will not be allowed to just say what he or she believes is in your medical interest, your doctor will be forced by law to say out loud to you and to put in writing information that is not true about an imagery link between having an abortion and getting breast cancer. There is no link between having an abortion and getting breast cancer.The anti-abortion movement has pushed that idea that there is for a long time, but it is not medically proven. In fact, its medically disproven.The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says it is not true. The Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer in looking at 53 studies involving 83,000 women with breast cancer for 16 countries, they said its not true. The National Cancer Institute says its not true. The American Cancer Society says it is not true. It is not true.But the Indiana legislature will force your doctor to read you a script that is not true about cancer.Heres the most beautiful detail in all of this. As the Indiana legislature continues to wrangle over this bill thats passed the House and its now being debated in the Senate, where a senator, a Democratic, suggested a rather modest amendment. The amendment proposed that if the Indiana legislature was, in fact, going to force doctors to say specific things to their patients, at least what doctors were being forced to say would be, quote, medical and scientifically accurate.That amendment was voted down. The Senate committee voted against making sure the script they are forcing doctors to recite to their patients is medically and scientifically accurate. Hows that small government thing going for you?The Indiana forced doctor to read false information from a script and other abortion matters bill is one of so many anti-abortion bills being proposed and passed by Republican-led legislators this year, it is impossible to keep up. On our staff, we have been trying to keep track of them in what had been a big sort of crowd-sourced, Frankenstein monster style word processing document full of hyperlinks and end notes and pictures and stuff, we finally had to convert those notes into a spreadsheet.In Florida alone, there are at least 18 anti-abortion bills moving through the state legislature. At least 18 bills put forward by conservatives to increase the power of the government to monitor the pregnancies in the state and maybe squeeze into your doctors appointment with you as well.Last week, one Florida state representative, A Democrat, had become so frustrated with this state of things, with not just the conservatives push to make the government in Florida so big it could monitor every pregnancy in the state, but their simultaneous insistence that they are small government party, he responded by saying this during a debate over what was an anti-union bill.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)STATE REP. SCOTT RANDOLPH (D), FLORIDA: Members, its easy to practice an ideological of convenience. If my wife incorporated her uterus, you all would say hands off. If my friends incorporated their bedroom, youd say hands off. But, now, were saying were going to increase regulation on one specific type of membership organization and thats unions.(END VIDEO CLIP)MADDOW: Because of that speech, Florida State Representative Randolph was chastised by the Republican leadership of the state legislature. They did not appreciate his use of the word uterus on the House floor. Republican leaders said Mr. Randolph was not to discuss body parts on the House floor. We will find out what Mr. Randolph thinks about that directive and whether he has followed it. He joins us next.Florida State Rep. Scott Randolph....Uterus is a four letter word? VIDEO