One of the biggest cost-cutting measures of Obama’s healthcare reform is the digitization of medical records. It’s an idea supported by both the right and the left; one first brought to the forefront of the healthcare debate by none other than Newt Gingrich. It is estimated that moving from paper record keeping to digital would save billions of dollars, and it’s something I support.
The problem arises when all those medical records are made available to the government through a centrally run insurance program like President Obama has proposed. Every trip to the doctor we take will be accessible with a few keystrokes from a Washington bureaucrat. And while there are many secrets about our private medical treatment we individuals would like to keep, I can’t imagine one bigger than an abortion.
Once the electronic system is set up, everyone’s records will be at risk, but if you’ve ever received an abortion, yours will be a prime target.
Abortion is one of the hottest political issues since slavery. Do you really think that if there is an easily accessible list just sitting in Washington D.C. waiting to be accessed by the wrong person that eventually someone isn’t going to make those names public?
Of course President Obama wouldn’t do that, and I’m sure such a violation of privacy would be considered illegal by the Supreme Court. But that just highlights the problem with Washington power: There is no guarantee you’ll always have a friendly face in the White House, and those records will be there waiting forever.
Does the left-wing think they will be in power forever? It may be their goal, but history has shown it’s a highly unlikely scenario. Eventually, at some point in the future, a conservative will be elected to serve in the White House. So let me ask this of Obamacare supporters?
Would you want Dick Cheney to know about your abortion? Would you trust him with that information? Because I know I wouldn’t.
It will only be a matter of time until a pro-life advocate gains access to the abortion list and makes it public. Personally, I don’t think it would right, even though I’m pro-life. I think people should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them without public ridicule—especially when they likely had to make these decisions as teenagers with little or no guidance from their parents.
I would hate to see women who have had abortions be forced to wear scarlet letters; to have to explain to their husbands why they never told them about their abortion; to have to relive a rape; to have to walk into work knowing that their co-workers couldn’t resist peaking at the abortion list website which contained their name.
The list would produce lawsuits, investigations, and outrage. But there would be no taking it back. Everyone would already know. Lives would have already been destroyed by the time legal action was taken. And from a pro-life perspective, it will have been worth it.
Because what teenage girl would go to a doctor for an abortion when they knew the whole world would find out?
I’m sure the really desperate ones would find a way: Back-alleys and coat-hangers, as they used to point out when I was kid. Because what doctor would break the law and risk their entire medical career by not filing the proper electronic paperwork with the government? Not many. Abortions would be reduced dramatically.
Especially with Dick Cheney in charge.
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