…and this is a 
South Dakota sleaze
Category: Politics • Reproduction
Posted on: November 5, 2006 8:58 AM, by PZ Myers
Don't ever claim that the little people can't influence the course of government. Don't assume that you need "credentials" or "knowledge" in order to make a difference. Read the inspiring story of the Unruhs and the South Dakota abortion ban.
Leslee Unruh, a person with no legislative or medical qualifications, drafts a law governing the medical care of female patients in South Dakota. She is also the the chief of the pro-ban campaign.
Alan Unruh, Leslee Unruh's husband, a chiropractor, sits on the South Dakota Task Force to Study Abortions, and is tasked with studying and evaluating medical evidence, reporting the findings, and making recommendations on the need for any additional legislation governing ob/gyn medical procedures.
See? This little family of unqualified, ignorant people possessing nothing but zeal and faith were able to make an entire state a laughing stock and put thousands of women at risk. Follow your dream, people! It doesn't matter if it's crazy or vile or requires you to misrepresent your abilities—just do it!
Of course, it also helps if you wangle one of those incestuous little deals where lazy legislators let proponents write the laws and stock the review committees with ideologues rather than competent experts, but you know what? That's incredibly common nowadays.
Comments
Okay,so how does a Chiropractor get on any kind of board that investigates medical procedures? Something nefarious from our neighbors to the west.
Is pregnancy the result of a pinched-nerve? Do we align the spine to make women want to have an otherwise unwanted baby?
I would like to see the conclusions of any reports that this "dr" writes.
Posted by: Mike Haubrich | November 5, 2006 9:04 AM
For your information, the chiroquacktors are at this very moment engaging in serious scientific research at their secret headquarters in the South Pacific, safe from the allopathic medical conspiracy, confirming the existence and influence of subluxations on all of our precious bodily functions.
Posted by: MarkP | November 5, 2006 10:10 AM
The idiots always outnumber reasonable people.
Where's your representative government then, eh?
Posted by: Caledonian | November 5, 2006 10:36 AM
The only comfort I can take is the fact that even though SD is Red and conservative, this is such a bad law that even people that would prefer to limit abortion are given pause by this law. Though why anyone who is conservative, who does not like this law, would vote fort a governor who signed it and contineus to champion it...I guess they feel the state has plenty of money to burn on extra elections and coutr cases they have no hgope of winning. But, Jeb Bush never payed for his Shiavo dealings, did he.
Posted by: Odd Jack | November 5, 2006 11:15 AM
A chiropractor is tasked with studying and evaluating medical evidence. Okay!
Posted by: 386sx | November 5, 2006 11:24 AM
My apologies to the other readers for following a troll off topic, but I keep on running into Caledonian on various blogs, but this is the most blatant comment he has made. I have to ask him what form of government he would prefer, and how given his doubts and fears, he would expect such a government to be implemented, and, more importantly, how he would expect it to be 'kept pure' and not corrupted as so many forms have been. He seems to favor rule by some sort of an elite -- correct me if I am wrong, cal -- but how this would be selected, and once-selected, how it would be renewed and membership in the 'ruling party' limited to it are questions I would like him to answer.
Posted by: Prup aka Jim Benton | November 5, 2006 11:33 AM
I hope everyone will soon be blogging on this piece of crap:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/05/cover.story/index.html
Posted by: Avian | November 5, 2006 11:37 AM
'Unruhe' is German for 'trouble' or 'unrest'.
I find this to be an interesting coincidence.
Posted by: Caledonian | November 5, 2006 11:48 AM
Thanks, Avian, for that article, it's at least better than the recent Newsweek one. I can go with this:
Posted by: Observer | November 5, 2006 11:54 AM
Oh brother, not "imbalances" again... you might as well try assert the idea of the four humors have explanatory power.
You're just not going to gain a functional understanding of the current state of knowledge regarding neurochemistry, neurobiology, and neurocomputation by reading the stuff published as general articles.
Posted by: Caledonian | November 5, 2006 11:58 AM
The only good thing coming out of this is that it seems a majority of SDers are opposed to the bill. I haven't seem the polling numbers but I have to think we are talking about around 50 percent, with lower in the 40's in support of the bill. The bill won't pass, only because it is not written well. If it had a worst case scenarios clause this would pass with a big margin.
Posted by: Odd Jack | November 5, 2006 12:11 PM
Caledonian, read the whole article, which goes onto an interview between Collins and Dawkins. That was just a teaser bit of it. I don't read Time to learn about neuroscience, thank you very much.
Posted by: Observer | November 5, 2006 12:37 PM
I didn't make any assertions about the rest of the article.
Posted by: Caledonian | November 5, 2006 12:52 PM
Oh brother, not "imbalances" again
I don't read Time to learn about neuroscience, thank you very much.
You two. I needed a chuckle this morning. I don't read Time to learn much of anything, except what someone's mom is going to bring up in conversation. I guess I'd better read the article *groan.*
I've heard the name "Leslee Unruh" before, but cannot remember where. She has her fingers in a couple pies I believe.
Posted by: Kristine | November 5, 2006 12:54 PM
Unruh is the president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse. That's probably where you heard of her before.
Posted by: tim gueguen | November 5, 2006 2:41 PM
Abstinence? What's that? ;-)
Posted by: Kristine | November 5, 2006 3:49 PM
Not that I think this guy is qualified to evaluate medical evidence about reproductive issues in any case, but before we start throwing the "woo-woo" accusations at him it would be worth finding out whether he's among the chiropractors who advocate spinal manipulation as a way of addressing musculoskeletal disorders of the back (for which there seems to be some evidence of its effectiveness), or the kooks who advocate it for treating asthma and such.
Posted by: Azkyroth | November 5, 2006 5:30 PM
Abstinance is a liqueur that was very popular in France about 100 years ago that caused madness and physical degeneration - oh! Not ansinthe, ABSTINANCE! Well, as far as the effects go, same difference!
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | November 5, 2006 9:19 PM
T. Bruce McNeely, as appealing as the name Abstiinance might be, I think you mean absinthe, a popular beverage among artist in 19th century France that sent many a drinker off the deep end. Perhaps, the Unruhs drink lots of it, which would explain their education and political posturing.
Posted by: Keanus | November 5, 2006 9:55 PM
PZ, this is SO disturbing...ugh...
Thnaks for the info...
Posted by: Bob | November 5, 2006 10:05 PM
Next on the political agenda: a wall around the state to keep women in. Armed guards at all points of exit to discourage escape. Then they'll start the groundwork for the forced breeding centers.
Posted by: Lowell | November 6, 2006 12:58 AM
Umm... I wonder. Are these two people related to Hank Hardy Unruh?
Posted by: Kseniya | November 6, 2006 12:06 PM
I hope they are not too closely related to the physicist which shares their name ...
I heard Alan U. on Democracy Now! Unfortunately, Amy Goodman didn't challenge him on his implicit claim to medical expertise. But one did get to see through a lot of his distortions, though not all.
Posted by: Keith Douglas | November 6, 2006 12:42 PM