John K. Ross on Stupid Laws that Cause Dangerous Hospital Shortages
Despite popular misconception, this is not a pro-choice vs. pro-life situation.
This week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal lawsuit alleging mistreatment of a woman in the days leading up to her miscarriage at a Catholic hospital in Michigan. The ACLU accuses Mercy Health Partners of negligence for, among other things, failing to direct Tamesha Means to a hospital that could have safely terminated her nonviable pregnancy after her water broke at only 18 weeks gestation. John K. Ross points out that Means could not have easily gone to another hospital, perhaps one offering the full range of women's health services, because there is no such hospital, thanks to a stupid law preventing competing facilities from opening.