*scream*

Please note: This is not about statutory rape -- this is about sex when both partners are minors.
Please note: The Kansas Dept of Health and Human Services has flat-out stated that they would not pursue investigation of these cases if they were reported.
Please note: Kline admits his opinion only applies to abortion providers, not the myriad other officials with abuse-reporting obligations (teachers, for example).
Please note: He is not pursuing investigations of minors who give birth, only those that get abortions.
Please note: This can result in jail time for the abortion provider.

Nice way of getting around abortion being legal, and managing to jail the providers anyway. How the hell they ever voted to lift the injunction -- I just don't know. Could this be more blatant abuse of power to create a witch-hunt against abortion providers?

I know I've posted about this before. That's because it scares the shit out of me, and pisses me the fuck off. And everyone needs to know this is what's happening in our country. If you think your rights to privacy and access to medical care are safe, you are utterly delusional (or not living in the US -- lucky you).

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=35238
In The Courts | Kansas Attorney General Testifies in Support of Opinion Requiring Reporting of Sexual Activity Among Minors
[Feb 07, 2006]
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (R) on Friday testified in federal court in support of a 2003 opinion he issued that would require health care workers and counseling professionals to report sexual activity among minors ages 16 and younger, the Wichita Eagle reports (Sylvester, Wichita Eagle, 2/4). Kline's ruling, which is based on a 1982 state law, contradicts that of former Attorney General Bob Stephan (R), who said that although doctors are required to report suspected abuse of a minor, pregnancy does not necessarily constitute an injury. Kline's opinion also conflicts with the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts' interpretation of the state abuse-reporting law in licensing and regulating medical personnel. Under Kline's opinion, physicians who fail to comply could face misdemeanor charges carrying up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000. Physicians also could face disciplinary action from the Board of Healing Arts. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a suit against Kline's opinion on behalf of medical and counseling professionals in the state, saying that the requirement could prevent some girls from seeking medical attention. In July 2004, U.S. District Judge Thomas Marten issued a temporary injunction barring enforcement of Kline's legal opinion until there could be full arguments in the lawsuit. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Jan. 27 voted to lift the injunction. Marten on Jan. 30 heard first-day arguments and testimony in the case, which is not a jury trial (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/2).

Testimony
Kline on Friday testified that the lawsuit interprets the opinion too broadly and that his ruling only is meant to identify illegal sexual behavior -- defined by Kline as conduct "so clearly offensive as to shock the moral conscience of a reasonable person." When asked under cross-examination which acts would be considered legal, Kline said, "It's difficult for me to say, maybe, kissing and petting." He added, "The rape of a child is abuse" (Wichita Eagle, 2/4). Kline told the court that public employees are required to report any injuries done to minors, adding, "Underage pregnancy is injury" (Riccardi, Los Angeles Times, 2/4). He also testified that his opinion is limited to obtaining records of abortion providers, the Eagle reports. The trial was scheduled to continue on Monday (Wichita Eagle, 2/4).

*sob*

OK, this isn't quite so crucial as my last post, but my homework website is down!

I had a fabulous time in class last night, and came in this morning looking forward to playing on the homework website some more (I use the self-quizzes as my form of Solitaire), and also finishing up my assignment for this week, but it's pulling up a 404 error, and their tech support line is closed until 9am, my time. *grump*

( cut for those who don't want to read about dissection )

Anyway, so class was everything I like -- finding cool things, exploring cool things, explaining cool things (there's an overlap with patient-instructing there; I love teaching people anatomy, no matter whose anatomy it is). And apparently I have another study partner; one of the girls I was working with in lab asked to exchange numbers so we can study together before the upcoming exam. I'm really pleased about that; I like working with other people, and I like the teaching aspect of working with someone who's having a rougher time with the material than I am.

It's interesting; this class is good for my mood and self-esteem in much the same way patient-instructing is; it's the combination of feeling both competent and useful. And until folks started asking to work/study with me, it was just the former, and not so much the latter, so I'm psyched about the change. It also pushes me to work harder, since it means it's especially important to me to get the material right, and not be guilty of passing along incorrect info (one of the things I have a big bugaboo about -- it matters a lot to me to be a trustworthy source of information). And I do hope all that comes across as joy, and not arrogance. Interestingly, that topic actually came up with my coworker, while we were talking at the bus stop yesterday -- I don't remember how the conversation started, but she commented about the role I play in the office (I'm "answer-girl" for both work-related and non-work-related weird queries -- I know weird shit, and I'm good at researching weird shit that I don't know), and we were talking about how that's really one of my primary strengths and pleasures (it was a lot of why I loved Quiz Bowl in high school, even). That's very, very true. I'd say it goes to the core of most of how I organize the work I do in the world. I'm happiest when I'm functioning as a resource for people, whether it's about sexual health info, anat and phys material, correct support routing for Bluezone FTP probs, or who to contact to report low water levels in a local lake.

When I'm depressed, and my self-confidence is low, it really takes that away from me; I become convinced that I'm somehow providing flawed information, and self-doubt starts to muzzle me. And, without that central positive aspect of how I normally interact with the world, I get more depressed, and so on.

On the flip side, though, "providing accurate information" is so ingrained into me that it sometimes messes with my ability to talk about my own emotions and feelings. I feel like I become unreliable when I speak about them, due to the nature of their changeability, and my own perspective shifts (made even more dramatic by the bipolar), and I have a hard time accepting that. In fact, some part of my brain is certain that if I am unreliable in that way, then people will start to consider me "untrustworthy" in more objective arenas (which is pretty stupid, I realize, but I've seen that thought pattern in my brain repeatedly, nonetheless). Also, all this obsession with accurate information makes being politically and socially activist pretty tricky, too. I get very angry at myself if I feel like I'm passing along or participating in obfuscation of the actual situation. And I get infuriated at my own parties and groups when they do that sort of thing (which most are guilty of sooner or later, and mostly sooner). It's not that I think I'm objective -- I have more than enough opinions and perspectives on the world. It's that I place a very high value on using honest material to back those up, and I that believe in being clear when I'm expressing opinion vs stating facts. And realistically, I think it's a better tactic in the long-run, too. Becoming known as a source of inaccurate material isn't the way to convince anyone of anything.

In an ideal world, I want to be a trustworthy person -- someone people can expect to say "I don't know, I'll research it" rather than pulling shit out of my ass, and someone who will acknowledge data points that support the "other side" even if they're less than comfortable. That's what I work toward.

Unsurprisingly, I'm exceedingly fond of Snopes, FactCheck, and debunking of almost any sort (although my fondness for Penn and Teller's Bullshit has been slipping since I've found them using questionable data without full disclosure on the sources/slants on some of the issues). And I think I get more angry at the antis in front of the clinic for disseminating inaccurate information (like the debunked breast cancer/abortion link) than for anything else. If you have to lie to convince people of an issue, your position isn't strong enough (this has lead to me dissociating myself from some activist organizations over the years, actually -- it's a tactic that's guaranteed to alienate me).

Huh. That turned into a much longer pondering than I expected.

Many Thanks!

All the book recommendations? Y'all rock! Thanks so much!

I'm feeling quite a bit like a kid in a candy shop.

A funny little Grandma story.

My grandmother, who died a bit over a year ago, was an avid reader.

In the year preceding her death (when it seemed she suspected it was coming), I recall her telling me "I'm working on finishing reading all the books I've meant to read -- I can't think of anything more horrible than being in a hospital, dying, unable to read, with a book half-finished."

She died suddenly, at home one night.

When we went to clear out her apartment, one of the things that made me happiest was finding that the book on her bedside table, a history of the Hutterites, had the bookmark all the way back in the appendices. She'd finished it before she'd gone.

Hey, a public official who's not acting like a crazy person!

Suozzi, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, in May 2005 proposed the plan to encourage adoption, promote information about contraceptives to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and provide homes for single mothers in the county. Suozzi has said he hopes the plan can "bring together opposing sides" to create a "world with fewer abortions" (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 5/12/05). He also appointed a 70-member task force to work on the proposal (AP/7online.com, 2/7). Members of the task force include representatives of public schools, universities, hospitals, social services, religious groups and not-for-profit organizations -- including Planned Parenthood of Nassau County and Catholic Charities USA, which support and oppose abortion rights, respectively -- the New York Times reports (Lambert, New York Times, 2/6).

Also:

National Politics & Policy | Male U.S. Representatives With Daughters More Likely To Vote in Favor of Abortion Rights, Women's Issues, Report Says

A bit of schadenfreude, thanks to calebbullen

George C. Deutsch, the young presidential appointee at NASA who told public affairs workers to limit reporters' access to a top climate scientist and told a Web designer to add the word "theory" at every mention of the Big Bang, resigned yesterday, agency officials said. Mr. Deutsch's resignation came on the same day that officials at Texas A&M University confirmed that he did not graduate from there, as his résumé on file at the agency asserted.

After you giggle about that, don't forget to worry about this bit, though:

Such complaints came to the fore starting in late January, when James E. Hansen, the climate scientist, and several midlevel public affairs officers told The Times that political appointees, including Mr. Deutsch, were pressing to limit Dr. Hansen's speaking and interviews on the threats posed by global warming.

Yesterday, Dr. Hansen said that the questions about Mr. Deutsch's credentials were important, but were a distraction from the broader issue of political control of scientific information.

"He's only a bit player," Dr. Hansen said of Mr. Deutsch. " The problem is much broader and much deeper and it goes across agencies. That's what I'm really concerned about."

"On climate, the public has been misinformed and not informed," he said. "The foundation of a democracy is an informed public, which obviously means an honestly informed public. That's the big issue here."