Bill O'Reilly Applauds Ruling Allowing Release of Underage Abortion Records
Reported by Marie Therese - June 2, 2005
There is a war being waged in the midwest against a woman's right to an abortion. Kansas passed a law stating that any girl under 14 who becomes pregnant is de facto the victim of rape. Kansas State Attorney General Phill Kline sued to force Dr. George Tiller to release his medical records. Now Indiana is trying the same thing. Judge Kenneth Johnson recently ruled that Planned Parenthood must release records of abortions performed on girls under the age of 14.
Middle-aged, extremely rich, white TV host Bill O'Reilly interviewed his guest middle-aged, extremely rich white lawyer Curt Smith, President of the Indiana Family Institute, a conservative Christian organization that posts a message of support by aging, mega-extremely rich, conservative white Christian entrepreneur Dr. James Dobson.
Here is the Indiana Family Insitute's "statement of faith" as posted on their website.
1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential and that this salvation is received through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and not as a result of good works.
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life and to perform good works.
6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.
[Question: Since IFI believes that people like me are slated for damnation, how can they claim to be "non-partisan"? They think they're better than most of the rest of the world - isn't that the definition of "partisanship"?]
These two models of moral excellence and purity - O'Reilly and Smith - yammered on and on about how the Kansas and Indiana laws are designed to arrest and prosecute the child molesters who have impregnated these young women.
This is a thinly disguised assault on Roe v Wade and an attempt to intimidate young women into having unwanted babies. Remember: Bill "Ebenezer" O'Reilly is the guy who blows a gasket whenever someone suggests that he has an obligation to be his brother's keeper. He routinely dismisses lesser folk as shiftless, lazy, drug-addicted, alcoholic do-nothings and rants that he shouldn't have to pay for the fact that they can't take care of themselves. Whatever milk of human kindness that flowed in Bill's veins curdled a long time ago!
BLOVIATOR BILL: Indiana judge Kenneth Johnson has ruled that Planned Parenthood must release records of impregnated girls under the age of 14. Any girl that age who becomes pregnant is obviously the victim of statutory rape but Planned Parenthood doesn't care. It would not cooperate with investigators looking into those crimes. Now, it has been ordered to do so.
... You know, this boggles my mind. I cannot believe somebodywould be so crazed about the abortion issue, which is what this is all about, that they would allow an 11, 12, 13, 14 year old girl - alright - to go through the horrendous process and not want to punish the man who raped her - or even, you know, maybe it's a 16 or 17 year old - not want to let the authorities know who did it. And it's, ah, it's a human rights violation, I think
LAWYER SMITH (quiet-spoken voice of the chosen of God, truly blessed): Indeed it is and you can imagine the kind of mindset that must go into this and so I'm so pleased we've had state officials like our Attorney General go after 'em and go after 'em hard. We got a great ruling from this Family Law judge, Judge Johnson. Very common sense. It shows that Hoosiers are gonna protect families and that's what it's all about. I'm the father of a 12 year old. This is just outrageous that they would try to hide behind a patient-doctor privilege and prevent evidence of a crime from coming forward to responsible people who could not only get the child a doctor but the help they need because of their risky situations.
BLOVIATOR BILL: Yeah, because the system protects the identities of the victims in all cases like this.
LAWYER SMITH: Indeed.
BLOVIATOR BILL: ... and the authorities just want to know the circumstance of the crime. It's not going to be released to the press. It's not gonna be released to you.
LAWYER SMITH: Right.
BLOVIATOR O'REILLY: And it's just, it's just crazy abortion nuts in Planned Parenthood.
LAWYER SMITH: Exactly.
BLOVIATOR BILL: OK?
LAWYER SMITH: And it's Planned Parenthood again.
BLOVIATOR BILL: Right.
LAWYER SMITH: Who are doing the same thing.
BLOVIATOR BILL (agitated): They're so - NARAL and all these other people - they're all in it together. I mean, they are so fanatical about this abortion. Anybody should be able to have one. Don't interfere, no matter if the kid's eleven.
LAWYER SMITH" That's right.
BLOVIATOR BILL: It doesn't matter. Don't tell their parents. Whatever! And I'm glad to see this Judge Johnson. Now, Planned Parenthood's gonna appeal, as you know.
LAWYER SMITH: Sure. Right.
BLOVIATOR BILL: And they're gonna take it up the food chain to the Supreme Court, if they have to.
LAWYER SMITH: Yes. And we have good judges in Indiana. Then we're gonna fight it all the way. Our Attorney General Steve Carter has vowed to take this to whatever level. There were some news reports today that this is going to be stayed until that's fully adjudicated. I'm not so sure. I'm not exactly sure that's what the Attorney General's office said, so Planned Parenthood better get ready for a fight on their hands in Indiana. We're gonna fight 'em all the way.
BLOVIATOR BILL: Well, I hope the Attorney General - and the Attorney General in Kansas is doin' the same thing - Indiana and Kansas are in the vanguard. If this case were happening in California or here in New York, the judges would have ruled the other way...
LAWYER SMITH: Right.
BLOVIATOR BILL: ... because those states are - uh - you know - are on the wrong road.
LAWYER SMITH: We're puttin' our kids ...
BLOVIATOR BILL: But, um, they've gotta get in there fast, because there's no guarantee is it gets up into the federal system, there's no guarantee the feds are gonna rule the way the state of Indiana is ruling.
LAWYER SMITH: Right. Well, Indiana is putting children first. We always have. We've not given up a child-centric legal system and culture. We're fighting hard for that because the courts are against this Planned Parenthood-Civil Liberties Union. But we're fightin' it hard. We have some good elected officials. The Family Institute ...
BLOVIATOR BILL: The ACLU is in on this, too, right? They're backin' Planned Parenthood. Correct?
LAWYER SMITH: I believe so. And they filed another suit yesterday on a different matter.
BLOVIATOR BILL: Yeah.
LAWYER SMITH: It's kind of, you know, they lost the public and so they have to go into the courts. That's the only refuge they have. You know, not to federalize this but we gotta keep the pressure on in Washington to get good judges in the federal courts because that's how we're gonna protect families and put kids first.
BLOVIATOR BILL: OK. Mr. Smith, thanks very much. We appreciate it.
COMMENT
First of all click here for the contact information for Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter. We encourage you all to get in touch with his office - but most especially those of our readers who live in Indiana - and let him know, politely, that you do not approve of his attempt to circumvent the 4th Amendment guarantee of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure in an effort to defeat Roe v. Wade.
The law states that a search warrant can only be granted by a judge if there is sufficient probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. Lawyer Smith offers no such evidence of probable cause here. Under the law you cannot go on random fishing expeditions into people's private records, hoping to find evidence of a crime. Our forefathers fought a two bloody wars - the Revolution and the War of 1812 - to prevent an all-powerful government from entering our homes without cause. My ancestors died for this and I'll be damned if I'll let two Twirps like O'Reilly and Smith rob me my birthright as an American!
Lawyer Smith, who believes himself to be superior in knowledge and grace before the Lord God Jehovah, dares to pass judgment on female children who might have been raped by a father, brother, uncle or cousin. Does anyone really believe either of these sanctimonious chauvinists actually cares about the health and well-being of the young women? For all they know, the girls lied about the names of their impregnators. How many "John Smiths" do they plan to prosecute?
Just as they used Terri Schiavo, the rabid Christian right is again trying to use the immense power of their exalted status in a male world to force children to reveal the name of their abusers or teenage lovers.
Do either of these powerful men ever stop the think - just once in their oh-so-black-and-white-lives - that maybe, just maybe, an 11 year old who's been raped by her daddy might not be in a position either emotionally, psychologically, legally or financially to speak the name of her abuser?
Daddy hisses in her ear: "Don't tell anybody about our little game, Susie." Daddy rips the head off of Susie's favorite doll and throws it into the fireplace. The sickening smell of melting plastic seeps through the room. "Don't ever tell. If you ever tell, I'll do the same thing to your friend Mary. Everybody does this, Susie. Daddy loves you, Susie. Give Daddy what he wants. I'll buy you anything you want. Give Daddy what he wants." How the hell can ANY man understand that - unless he's suffered through the same horror?
Arrrrrgggggghhhhhhhh! That, dear readers, was a scream!
I've known five women who survived early childhood sexual abuse. The wounds are long and deep and the scars never heal. I've known other women who have had abortions. Each reacted in her own unique way and all have carried the memory of it for their entire lives. Some regret it. Some don't. None want to see Roe v. Wade overturned.
Roe v. Wade was passed based on a woman's right to privacy. Pompous popinjays like O'Reilly and Smith are trying to rip that right away using a manufactured legal premise to allow the state to obtain private medical records. Much as I dislike Rush Limbaugh, I agreed with the ACLU on the question of his medical records.
The state does not have the right to view our medical records without PROBABLE CAUSE. "Common sense" and "anecdotal evidence" and "opinion of experts" is not sufficient to obtain a search warrant.
Oh, yes, and one last thing.
This all boils down to a bunch of patriarchal control freaks who can't stand the thought that their "wimmin" might do something behind their backs!
SPECIAL NOTE
This post was updated at 8:25 PM EDT to remove redundant phrases.
Marie Therese