NationStates Jolt Archive

COMMENTARY: WTF, over??? :headbang:


Kiss-and-Tell No More (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/opinion/22sat4.html?th&emc=th)


Published: April 22, 2006
A federal judge in Kansas has dealt another blow to the crusade by the state's attorney general, Phill Kline, to restrict abortions under the phony banner of combating child abuse.

In February, the Kansas Supreme Court blocked Mr. Kline from invading the medical privacy of 90 women and girls who were treated at two abortion clinics. This week, a federal trial judge in Wichita killed Mr. Kline's daft idea to require doctors, school counselors and psychotherapists, among others, to report all sexual activity by people under 16, from kissing to sexual intercourse.

In 2003, Mr. Kline issued an advisory opinion that changed the interpretation of Kansas' law requiring the reporting of child abuse. It made mandatory the reporting of every instance of suspected consensual sex among teenagers of similar ages, including any pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease or request for contraception.

Doctors, nurses, therapists and sex educators sued, and the federal judge, Thomas Marten, held that Mr. Kline's opinion violated the actual language of the underlying state statute, which gives those treating adolescents discretion to decide whether illegal sexual activity amounts to actual child abuse. Kansas law prohibits intercourse, oral sex and lewd touching by anyone under 16.

Setting a potentially important constitutional precedent, Judge Marten also found that adolescents enjoy a limited right of informational privacy in their communications with health care workers.

Judge Marten said Mr. Kline's blunderbuss reporting requirement would jeopardize the physical and mental health of adolescents by deterring them from seeking testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, birth control and counseling. It would also hurt efforts to combat real child abuse by overwhelming social service officials.

It seems too much to hope that this will end the matter, since Mr. Kline is likely to appeal, and anti-abortion groups are eager to expand the use of child-abuse reporting laws. But for the moment, the thoughtful new ruling gives supporters of medical privacy and reproductive freedom a victory.

THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE!:rolleyes:

Wow. The Fred Phelps of the anti-choice group

I'm never ever going to Kansas. What do these people have against sex, they all clearly have a huge rod up their colective asses.

Teenagers should just SMS Mr Kline everytime they have sex.

What do these people have against sex, they all clearly have a huge rod up their colective asses.
No, actually I think it is a lack of rods going up their asses that is the problem, makes them jealous of their teenage daughters.

No, actually I think it is a lack of rods going up their asses that is the problem, makes them jealous of their teenage daughters.
classic. :p


oh, and this guy was full of it, I am glad he got shut down. I love this country when things work the way I think they should.

THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE!:rolleyes:
Stop generalizing from one demented fool to an entire nation. Get over yourself.

This is why we need the right to selectively remove assholes from the gene pool, to prevent this kind of disease from spreading.

Stop generalizing from one demented fool to an entire nation. Get over yourself.
The problem is that all we ever seem to hear from the USA is from demented fools like this..If i may ask a question is the entire country so polarised?Is there no such thing as centre ground?? A bit of rational thinking??

The problem is that all we ever seem to hear from the USA is from demented fools like this..If i may ask a question is the entire country so polarised?Is there no such thing as centre ground?? A bit of rational thinking??
Like most people, I am very anti-rape, and am quite proud that I have managed to avoid being seduced by Big Rape and their lobbying campaign.
What was the point of that? Polarisation isn't neccessarily a bad thing, and the middle ground isn't always rational.

Stop generalizing from one demented fool to an entire nation. Get over yourself.

Another problem is that demented fools like these happen to enjoy a big chunk of support and given enough support, could actually make things policy.

Support alone already means that there are enough demented fools who follow this particular fool to get him into the position of some minor power. Enough supporting him to make things like these policy and yes, you can claim that it represents the entire nation. That's the lovely thing about democracy. If Mr. Caveman gets elected as the leader, that would have to mean the majority of voters thought the Caveman was best and support his ideas.

Like most people, I am very anti-rape, and am quite proud that I have managed to avoid being seduced by Big Rape and their lobbying campaign.
What was the point of that? Polarisation isn't neccessarily a bad thing, and the middle ground isn't always rational.
Like you I am very anti rape but when an 18 year old guy is sent down for having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend it just seems a little over reactionary..Then add to that if she happens to be a virgin he can be done for agravated sexual assualt of a minor!! I mean get real!

Like you I am very anti rape but when an 18 year old guy is sent down for having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend it just seems a little over reactionary..Then add to that if she happens to be a virgin he can be done for agravated sexual assualt of a minor!! I mean get real!
False rape reports are indeed a major obstruction of justice. However, true rape cases should be taken with all the severity that is accorded to them. It is a vulgar crime and impediment of one's freedom.

Like you I am very anti rape but when an 18 year old guy is sent down for having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend it just seems a little over reactionary..Then add to that if she happens to be a virgin he can be done for agravated sexual assualt of a minor!! I mean get real!
Well, yes, that is pretty stupid; I was just using your post as an off-topic chance to rant about moderates.
I'd like to drop the age of consent to 16 (driving a car is more dangerous and requires more maturity than having sex), or somewhere thereabouts, but, yeah, whatever.
It doesn't personally involve me (mature, legally draftable adult that I am), so I tend to keep out of such silliness.

Another problem is that demented fools like these happen to enjoy a big chunk of support and given enough support, could actually make things policy.

Support alone already means that there are enough demented fools who follow this particular fool to get him into the position of some minor power. Enough supporting him to make things like these policy and yes, you can claim that it represents the entire nation. That's the lovely thing about democracy. If Mr. Caveman gets elected as the leader, that would have to mean the majority of voters thought the Caveman was best and support his ideas.
The classic delusion that a democracy is necessarily a meritocracy. :)

The problem is that all we ever seem to hear from the USA is from demented fools like this..If i may ask a question is the entire country so polarised?Is there no such thing as centre ground?? A bit of rational thinking??
Of course. But someone being rational isn't "news."

Of course. But someone being rational isn't "news."
Well, it is. Rather boring news though. The kind of stuff you'd see in old age homes.

False rape reports are indeed a major obstruction of justice. However, true rape cases should be taken with all the severity that is accorded to them. It is a vulgar crime and impediment of one's freedom.
Absolutly.I was never questioning that.It is probably the only crime that there is never any justifiable reason to commit.

Another problem is that demented fools like these happen to enjoy a big chunk of support and given enough support, could actually make things policy.

Support alone already means that there are enough demented fools who follow this particular fool to get him into the position of some minor power. Enough supporting him to make things like these policy and yes, you can claim that it represents the entire nation. That's the lovely thing about democracy. If Mr. Caveman gets elected as the leader, that would have to mean the majority of voters thought the Caveman was best and support his ideas.
Or that someone with lots of money did a good job of marketing him.

However, it is just one State and one fool in one State doth not a national movement make.

Well, it is. Rather boring news though.
Which is precisely why you hardly ever hear anything about a politican or an appointee making a good decision.

Or that someone with lots of money did a good job of marketing him.

However, it is just one State and one fool in one State doth not a national movement make.
...yet. ;)

...yet. ;)
It's nice that you sound so hopeful about this. :rolleyes:

Which is precisely why you hardly ever hear anything about a politican or an appointee making a good decision.
True. Which is why when it comes to the US I do my own research rather than take half-brained (usually left-wing) opinions on it from fellow Europeans.

It's nice that you sound so hopeful about this. :rolleyes:
I look at the world as a big playing field. If it gets too stagnant and boring, something needs to change. Odd viewpoint, I know. :)

Isn't Kansas one of the few states that actually passed the "Intelligent Design" teaching bill? If so, then this whole broohaha makes alot more sense. This is a religious issue.

States cannot pass laws that violate the constitution and the law of the land. Right now that law happens to be Roe v. Wade. Our major concern should be weather or not the court will overturn Roe. If so, then the women of the midwest will have to pack their bags and leave fo the coast. I think if all the women in the midwest US who opposed such laws just up and left, the laws would get changed back faster than you could say spit.

Like you I am very anti rape but when an 18 year old guy is sent down for having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend it just seems a little over reactionary..Then add to that if she happens to be a virgin he can be done for agravated sexual assualt of a minor!! I mean get real!
Most, if not all, states have exemptions if the minor is within a few years of the adult (four or so).

Stop generalizing from one demented fool to an entire nation. Get over yourself.
Yeah, it's not like there is federal opposition to all this, oh wait...

Like you I am very anti rape but when an 18 year old guy is sent down for having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend it just seems a little over reactionary..Then add to that if she happens to be a virgin he can be done for agravated sexual assualt of a minor!! I mean get real!
That has nothing to do with this Kansas insanity. Take your teen statutory rape scenario and translate it to two 15-year-olds kissing at a party and having that declared child sexual abuse.

This Kline asshole should not only be removed from the DA's office, he should be disbarred and, possibly, committed for a while as well.

Let's just sell Kansas to the Chinese government. That'll set them straight.

Stop generalizing from one demented fool to an entire nation. Get over yourself.
To be fair, that's pretty much what you did in the OP, except that with you it was Kansas instead of the entire US.

The classic delusion that a democracy is necessarily a meritocracy. :)

Well, look at it this way. If the likes of Pat Robertson and Ann Coulter can keep going the way they do and still have lots of listeners/supporters, doesn't that mean that they wield no small amount of clout that could be used to get them into positions of power? I mean, if everybody was of the mind that Pat and Ann were mental cases, nobody would bother giving them any money to keep running their shows and maybe they'd do something more productive than spout crap.

Or that someone with lots of money did a good job of marketing him.

However, it is just one State and one fool in one State doth not a national movement make.

The fact that Kansans elected him, repeatedly reelect School Board Members who chuck evolution, have repeatedly reelected Opus Dei members like Sam Brownback and Baptist members like Jim Ryun and Todd Tiahrt, a man who in 1998 on no less than 3 seperate occassions admonished America for its insufficient Godliness and for "losing its soul" by turning its back on God and family values, all suggest that this is not an isolated instance. Its a sign of a larger pattern of freakish religiosity, as well as the fact that something is rotten in the state of Kansas.

Kansas is weird, most southern states are. Though this one is just another in a long history of stupid decisions and laws they have. X-x

No lwed TOUCHING BY anyone under 16 o.o! Wow....I'd go to court because I felt my gf's chest. :O

Hmm, interesting. Has anyone else read Gravity Dreams by LE Modesitt jr.? The parallels between this twit and tenets of Dzin are interesting to say the least.