The Freedom Caucus does not appear to want to outlaw abortions. Its members are using their bills to create election issues instead of proposing solutions. At the next election they will attack the people who read their bills and voted against them for quality issues, but who actually want to stop abortions.
Before the legislature started tinkering with the abortion laws, Wyoming had the lowest abortion rate in the country. Now, with lawmakers passing years’ worth of unconstitutional incomprehensible gobbledygook, the abortion rates have increased.
Legislators who don’t listen to sound advice have only themselves to blame, although they will point the finger at others.
Three bills are on the table: House Bill 42 (Regulation of Surgical Abortion,) House Bill 64 (Chemical Abortions Ultrasound) and House Bill 159 (Protecting water from chemical abortion waste).
The regulation of surgical abortions bill is special legislation aimed at making licensure harder for abortion clinics by classifying them as surgery centers. The increased licensure requirement will just change the licensing of the procedures, but will have negligible effects on abortions.
HB64 requires a patient to receive an ultrasound, to make her look at a picture of the fetus before she can receive an abortion pill. The Wyoming voters in 2012 passed the Health Care Freedom amendment to the Wyoming Constitution which told the legislature to butt out of any of their personal health care decisions. Despite the clear language of the state Constitution, this bill tries to interject itself into the doctor-patient relationship, and will not survive a court challenge.
A recent ruling out of a state court warns us of that.
Finally, HB 159, or “protecting water from chemical abortion waste” declares war on the pharmaceutical industry by making any trace elements of abortion drugs in the water system a strict liability issue. The language in the bill is a pompous exercise in trying to control all three branches of government.
The bill contains an entire page of legal mumbo jumbo which tries to overrule Article 2, Section 1 of the Wyoming Constitution, which says Wyoming has three distinct branches of government -- legislative, executive and judicial. It says no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one branch shall exercise any powers belonging to another branch.
In this bill, the legislature tries to dictate to the judicial and executive branches how to do their jobs.
Second, the bill pits the state, which has an annual total gross domestic product of $40.2 billion, against the pharmaceutical industry: GDP $1.6 trillion. The state will have to dedicate an army of lawyers to counter big pharma’s litigation team.
Wyoming plays the role of Bambi in the movie Bambi v. Godzilla.
I wonder what happens if the drug companies just say, we are not selling any of our product in Wyoming? With fewer than 400,000 people in the whole state, their departure would hurt the people of Wyoming more than Wyoming’s silly law would hurt them.
Third, this big government solution is impossible. No one can point to one instance of anyone being hurt by these chemicals in the water. The argument is “it could happen.”
One can imagine agents from the Pregnancy Response Enforcement Group (PREG), breaking down the doors of sexually active women of childbearing age, sampling toilet water and making them pee in cups. Maybe they’ll ensure that women are using the required orange glow-in-the-dark toilet bags (Pregnancy Interlock Safety Systems – PISS) so they can go after the pharmacy companies. The legislation would actually require these PISS devices.
This bill is less about protecting women and more about declaring war on the pharmaceutical industry – with a page out of the gun-grabber manual. The Freedom Caucus would be better off regulating flying pigs.
Fourth, the bill is unconstitutional on several levels. It violates separation of powers by telling the courts what to do. It’s likely preempted by the EPA, FDA and FTC.
Why would legislators propose such silly and overbearing bills?
The answer is simple. These bills are not about abortion, but about creating election issues - again. Anyone who speaks against the stupidity of these bills will see slanderous videos and flyers flooding every inbox, labeling them abortionists.
If these legislators really wanted to address the abortion issue, they would simply propose a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortion and let the voters of Wyoming decide the issue.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
