Republican Gov. Bill Owens yesterday vetoed a bill that would have forced hospitals to tell rape victims about emergency contraception, saying it would have crossed the line by forcing church-backed institutions to violate their own ethics guidelines.
"This bill would violate fundamental constitutional principles by forcing an institution to say things to patients that it explicitly does not believe to be morally or ethically valid," said Owens, a Roman Catholic who has campaigned on conservative values. ...
Timothy Dore, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference, said lawmakers had no business telling church hospitals they had to refer rape victims to clinics that would provide a morning-after pill.
"That was a cooperation with evil we could not tolerate," he said.
State Rep. Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, said Owens misconstrued the intent of the legislation.
"This was not about abortion, it was not about freedom, it was about women who were raped," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman, R-Burlington, said Democrats had tried to use their newly won majorities in the House and Senate to ram through social legislation and they failed. He said the bill would have had more support if it allowed institutions to opt out if they had moral objections.
"That's what they would have done if they cared about rape victims rather than flexing their muscles at the Catholic Church," Hillman said.
State Rep. Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, said any attempts to override the veto would fail. The measure passed 46-19 in the House and 22-13 in the Senate, with a number of Republicans crossing party lines to support it. It did not have enough support for the two-thirds vote needed in each house to override the veto.
"A cooperation with evil we could not tolerate"; I like that. As if these pedophile-protecting, child-raping motherfuckers don't have vast experience cooperating with evil when it suits their purposes. It's all about the power of the Catholic Church. Don't tell them how to deliver medical care! If they don't want to tell rape victims about EC, they don't have to. If they don't want to prescribe birth control, you can't make their pharmacists do so. Life!
Keep an eye on Gov. Owens, too. That slimy, smarmy bastard - I have met him, I know - wants to be a Senator or President one day.
(Courtesy of His Most Royal Majesty King of Zembla.)
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