Trounce 'em.
An attempt to strip abortion providers of their role in counselling women was heavily defeated in the House of Commons this afternoon after a split between the original supporters of the amendment.
MPs voted by 368 votes to 118 – a majority of 250 – to reject the amendment by the Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries after she lost the support of her co-sponsor, the former Labour minister Frank Field.
The health minister said they would look into the guidelines and consult interested parties and Field said that was good enough (for him to weasel).
But Dorries is still whinging.
Dorries claimed that the prime minister changed his mind under pressure from Nick Clegg, after the deputy prime minister was lobbied by the former Lib Dem MP Evan Harris. Dorries said: "Basically the Liberal Democrats, in fact a former MP who lost his seat in this place, is blackmailing our prime minister. Our prime minister has been put in an impossible position regarding this amendment. Our health bill has been held to ransom by a former Liberal Democrat MP."
Oooh. 'Blackmail' is some pretty strong language, Ms Dorries. You lost. Deal with it.
3 comments:
Blackmail is an easy term for Nadine Dorries to shrieeek, though. Her side uses that tactic alla the time.
BTW, there was an investigative journalistic piece in the ... ah, Daily Mail recently. Out of six or so counselling service providers, only one of the prochoice and one of the nochoice were professionally conducted, in the reporter's opinion. Good wake-up call for prochoice; we can't be complacent about the availability and quality of medical services provided to women.
Yeah, I saw that story in the Daily Mail. You're right, it is a wake-up call for pro-choice. But, I'd prefer a harried health-care worker over a programmed god-botherer any day.
I read that article, and felt the description of her attendance at these places and her observations were incomplete. How did she present to the pro-choice counsellor. Did she seem determined? Ambivalent? Counselling is often very patient directed. If a woman goes to her doctor for a preg test and it turns out positive and she gets happy and excited, the doctor isn't going to ask her if she would like to consider abortion or adoption and then force her to listen to a description of those options. If she looks shocked and upset, she might open that conversation though. Likewise a good pregnancy counsellor will not force a woman who speaks confidently about wanting an abortion, to sit through descriptions of all the ways and means she can carry her pregnancy to term and parent or adopt. She may just ask her if she is sure of her decision, if she has support, does she require more information, etc., The answers to those questions will determine where the counsellor goes with it. An anti-choice counsellor on the other hand, will force the conversation and make the client listen to her ideological views of abortion and of course the faux science that always accompanies those views.
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