Now there’s a quote that stands out.
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) accused Republicans of hypocrisy for pairing protests against a health care mandate with demands for increasingly invasive restrictions on women’s health.
“The only health care mandate they can embrace are transvaginal probes for women,” O’Malley said Friday during a press call.
Of course, it’s worth appreciating this as more than just a political zinger. For months, state officials — most notably Republicans in Virginia, led by Gov. Bob McDonnell — pushed measures intended to force women to have medically unnecessary ultrasounds before they could choose to terminate their pregnancies.
What if the women didn’t want to have the ultrasound? Too bad. What if their physicians said the ultrasound served no medical purpose? It doesn’t matter. Government would require women to make this purchase — paid for out of their own pocket — regardless of personal choice.
This, in the eyes of Republicans, was fine. But if President Obama follows Mitt Romney’s lead, and creates a tax penalty for folks who can afford health insurance but refuse to buy it, that’s an abusive, freedom-killing, communist plot that puts government between Americans and their doctors.
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