Mandatory Sexual Assault Laws: Not Just for Below the Mason-Dixon Line Anymore!

Scott Walker, an odious governor in all respects:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed harsh restrictions on abortion into law on Friday, setting the stage for a court battle with pro-choice groups over the new requirements.

The new law would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of where a procedure is done and mandates ultrasounds for all women before the can get an abortion.

Planned Parenthood and Affiliated Medical Services has already filed a suit challenging the law, arguing that it violates the constitution’s guarantee of due process. Women in Wisconsin are already forced to listen to a presentation and wait for 24 hours between that appointment and actually getting an abortion.

Two of the four clinics in the state have said that they would have to shut down because of the law, leaving Wisconsin’s women with dramatically reduced options for essential reproductive care, particularly in the large rural part of the state.

I’ll bet Ann Althouse, a hardcore Walker supporter and also a real, staunch, MacKinnonite feminist, not the kind of feminist who would have an ad for T-shirts on her blog or something, has always been critical of Walker’s ongoing appalling opposition to the fundamental rights of women at least:

Abortion politics. I’m not defending either side here. Everyone’s gesturing at political constituencies. It’s a nasty business in a delicate place, where there are many conflicting values, and a tremendous amount of dishonesty all around.

Ah, I’m glad that someone has finally spoken the crucial truth that Both Sides Do It, with the end result that terrible laws can’t (or, in her case, at least won’t) be criticized as long as they were signed into law by a Republican governor.

For a link that’s actually worth reading, Lithwick on mandatory ultrasound laws.