Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Legislature / Woods In House Committee, Republicans Find Themselves Defending Rights of Molesters
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, May 6, 2009 at 3:40 PM
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Rep. Tony "Capt. Apocalypse" Shipley was back before the House Judiciary Committee today for a raucous meeting over his bill to give incestuous fathers the right to see their victim's medical records. That's not the way Shipley describes it (as you might have guessed) but that would be one result of his bill, which gives parents immediate access to their children's records no matter the circumstances.
Shipley casts himself as championing parental rights. Pro-lifers love it because they think there are crowds of teenage girls having abortions without their parents' knowledge, and they say Shipley's bill would stop that. For that reason, and also because violating doctor-patient confidentiality in this way would jeopardize $6 million in federal family planning money, this legislation has become this session's unlikely cause célèbre of the Christian Right.
In the meeting's highlight, Rep. Henry Fincher, D-Cookeville, forced Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, to admit the bill would give new rights to child molesters.
"Are we just going to make a blanket rule ... not just God-fearing parents but the sorry ones, the ones who do bad things to their kids? That's the problem with blanket rules. It covers the good and the bad alike. ... Some people do bad things and we've got to protect these kids from them," Fincher said.
Laughably, during the following exchange, Dennis found himself citing the Constitution's right to privacy, which pro-lifers believe is nonexistent.
Fincher: So a child molester that's locked up for the next six months will have a right under this amendment to get those medical records of their victim?
Dennis: Until his parental rights are terminated, he's still the parent. ... He's the parent until his rights are terminated.
Fincher: Health care records and all the stuff that's in that doctor's file, that child molester sitting in prison has the right to get that file? And this is a good idea you think? ... Why do we want to give child molesters more rights?
Dennis: I'm not giving child molesters anything. ...
Fincher: Why would it be a bad idea to let the doctor who's there make the determination based on all the circumstances and use their training, experience and knowledge? Let them make the decision rather than us sitting up here on high who don't have a clue what's going on in that examination room?
Dennis: For me, it's that little pesky thing called the Constitution and the right to privacy and the right to parent your children as you see fit.
Rep. Karen Camper, D-Memphis, pointed out that 16-year-olds can legally marry in Tennessee, "but that very 16-year-old would not have any say-so over her medical record."
Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, noted the Tennessee Medical Association, hospitals and the state Department of Human Services oppose the bill. "This is a momentous law changing the way we've done things for decades in Tennessee," he said. "Why are we imposing these burdens on our doctors when they're telling us not to do this? Are you concerned that everybody who's actually involved in this thinks it's a bad idea?"
The committee never voted on the bill, but adjourned when its time ran out. Republicans objected, but committee chair Kent Coleman finally said, "I'm gone," leaving Rep. Brian Kelsey behind to whine.
"I'm not sure what just happened here but I don't think that was parliamentarially correct," Kelsey said, "and that's really a shame."
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