Governor Bob McDonnell now says Americans should be in control of their health. Isn’t it ironic?
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“Americans should be in control of their health and the decisions regarding their care.” — Governor Bob McDonnell, 03/20/12
Sometimes, the ways in which politicians take opposite positions on the same issue creates whiplash. Well on Tuesday, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell did just that publishing an op-ed that suggests he believes Americans should be in control of their own health care, only a few weeks after he signed a mandatory ultrasound bill into law.
The bill, an outrageous example of government overreach into the doctor-patient relationship, would require every woman seeking abortion care to have an ultrasound performed at least 24 hours in advance. It’s just another example of politicians and lawmakers believing they know better than women and their doctors — it has nothing to do with supporting women’s health and the people of Virginia know it.
According to the new poll, Virginia voters disagree with the forced ultrasound law 52 to 41. By an even greater margin, 72 percent of voters said that the government should not make laws which try to convince women seeking abortion care to change their minds. The voters in Virginia don’t want this. And if the governor keeps it up, it seems like the voters in Virginia won’t want him either. The very same poll showed his numbers dropping to the lowest since June 2011.
And what’s even more ironic, McDonnell published an op-ed on “the seven principles of health care reform” where the second principle goes as follows:
“Responsibility is best fostered through individual incentives and not an oppressive federal mandate that violates the economic freedoms of Americans: Americans should be in control of their health and the decisions regarding their care. Individuals and families, not governments, are best able to decide the right course of action, which is why price and quality transparency are essential to meaningful reform.”
So not only do the voters of Virginia not want this mandate, but it sounds like the governor doesn’t like this type of mandate either. Maybe he should take a look at his own principles of health care before he passes a bill that mandates doctors perform procedures that may not be medically necessary.
