When the debate over health care reform began in earnest, it wasn't unusual to hear conservatives boast about the greatness of the American health care system, noting that people come from around the world to take advantage of the care available in the United States.
But occasionally we're confronted with instances in which Americans would find it easier to leave the United States for Mexico in order to pursue health care options.
At the Whole Woman's Health center [in McAllen, Texas], a young woman predicted what others would do if the state's stringent new abortion bill approved late Friday forces clinics like this one to close: cross the border to Mexico to seek an "abortion pill.""This law will lead a lot more women to try self-abortion," said Jackie F., a 24-year-old food server and student who was in the health center last week for a follow-up medical examination after getting a legal abortion.
The report refers to medication that can induce miscarriages, and is readily available south of the border. Indeed, the NYT notes that literally yards past the Mexican border, there are pharmacists on hand to offer misoprostol at discount prices: "generic at $35 for a box of 28 pills, or the branded Cytotec for $175."
Republicans in Texas insist their sweeping new restrictions on reproductive rights are intended to promote "safety," including closing down all but a handful of the clinics that provide women's health services. But as history has told us, these restrictions tend to have the opposite effect -- forcing women to pursue less safe options on their own.
Indeed, on Friday night, following the vote in the Texas legislature, Fox News contributor Erick Erickson encouraged "liberals" to bookmark a specific link -- which referred readers to Store Supply Warehouse's page for "Hangers & Garment Bags."
This is the state of the debate.