Sep. 1st, 2008 @ 11:12 pm That abortion law people have been raging about...
Warning: this is likely to be a very unpopular opinion. But seriously, I kept thinking it and finally had to come out with it.

(This is about the recently passed bill which would prohibit retaliation against medical personnel who refuse to provide abortion).

No, the sky is not falling.

Seriously.

This is just codifying something which is de facto law already.

Before I get to this, one separate point though:

You know, most medical professionals do not sign on to do abortions, or even on the chance that they might have to. You know why? Because the only people who perform them are either professionals working at abortion clinics or (in some rare event, such as an emergency), an E.R. doctor. This does not affect the vast majority of doctors, nurses, technicians or anyone else. Chances of a podiatrist or a midwife or a physical therapist conducting or assisting in an abortion? Next to none.

So yes, ER doctors (and assistants) and abortion clinics people.

Guess what, you can't force someone to perform a service. There is a provision against involuntary servitude based on 13th amendment which has been invoked in a whole slew of situations, from school children having to clean schools to chain gangs. What it means? You cannot force a doctor, a nurse, or that person who boils the metal instruments to perform a function they do not want to do.

"Yes, but before you could fire them and that would scare them into doing abortions!"

Not really. Most abortions are performed in clinics like Planned Parenthood, right? Well, I don't think anyone who is not a-Ok with abortions would apply to work there, but let's say somebody did and got hired. PP might not be able to fire them because they refused to do abortions on moral grounds, but they can certainly fire them for either falsifying an important fact on their application (I would imagine any sane org that does a controversial procedure would ask about the applicant's willingness to engage in it) or because they cannot perform the duties of their position which consist of abortions. An example is the law that prohibits gender discrimination in employment, but there are a series of cases that say that e.g. a strip club or even Hooters can hire only busty ladies because being a busty lady is a qualification of the job. Just as you are not supposed to discriminate against the handicapped but if the person's being handycapped interferes with the duties of the job, then you can certainly only insist on hiring able-bodied workers.

E.R. is obviously a more mixed case because the personnel's job descriptions include more than performing/assisting abortions (though I still think it's a good argument in that case as well. You are not penalizing them for their beliefs, you are transferring them for insufficient performance). But leaving aside that practically speaking you can find more than one doctor/nurse/cloth-holder in the hospital, I would imagine vast majority of abortions performed in ERs are emergency procedures to save life of the mother or what not. Even a lot of people who are anti-abortion are OK with that, but even leaving that aside, somebody who is willing to let a person die because aborting is against their moral beliefs would not be deterred by a prospect of firing, realistically speaking. Not to mention that from what I know of ER docs, religious right is hardly a thriving group among them.

So basically, storm in a teacup. Good way for conservative politicians to score points with their consituents without doing anything meaningful.

(Disclaimer: Yes, I am pro-choice. Yes, I find forcing people into doing actions that go against their moral beliefs distasteful).
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Sep. 1st, 2008 @ 11:38 pm Drama rec of the day: 9 End 2 Outs
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I have started watching a delicious Korean drama called 9 End 2 Outs, starring Soo Ae as Hong Nan Hee and Lee Jung Jin as Byun Hyung Tae.

So far I am three eps in and it's wonderful.

Nan Hee and Hyung Tae have been best friends for 30 years, almost since the day they were born. And now they are reassessing their lives as they hit that bit 30-yr mark. Nan Hee is someone who is not viewed as a success by the traditional Korean society: a 30-year old woman, she is not only single but without any sort of a career, working a low-paying, dead-end job and dreaming of becoming a writer. She is a bit of a slob, somewhat hot-tempered, rather an idealist, and totally irresistable. Hyung Tae, OTOH, has taken the 'eligible bachelor' thing much too far. He is a photographer working for a large advertising company and is still trying to cope with the break-up with the love of his life, who walked out on him a few years ago. And by 'cope' I mean 'pick up every easy and not too bright bimbo who will fall for his charm and good looks in a bar.'

Nan Hee and Hyung Tae know almost everything about each other, from big things to small and in some ways that friendship is the most important relationship in their lives (they have been known to let go of significant others who demand that one of them stop seeing the other) but they genuinely do not see each other as a potentially attractive man or woman. They bicker, they help out the other with their tangled love lives, they joke, and they really do not see that they might be perfect for each other. That might change when Hyung Tae lets the broke Nan Hee crash at his place. Or it might lead them to killing each other instead.

I love the drama. I love the pacing, I love the secondaries, and above all, I love the friendship between the leads. I am sure they will end up falling for each other, but I honestly don't care if they never do because I love watching their friendship so much. My favorite scene so far is after Nan Hee broke up with her much younger boyfriend, whom she genuinely loved but with whom she thought she couldn't work it out, she is falling apart and Hyung Tae ends up taking such good care of her. At that point he has not the slightest romantic interest in her. But his best friend is in trouble and he does everything he can and GUUUUH.

Cute MV:

Capital Scandal sit by miss_dian
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