Texas 'wrongful birth' bill would allow doctors to lie, critics say

3/6/17

Texas 'wrongful birth' bill would allow doctors to lie, critics say

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/06/health/wrongful-births-bill-texas-senate/index.html

A new bill being decided on in the Texas Senate called the Senate Bill 25 is currently causing a lot of uproar (for fair reason), according to Wayne Drash from CNN. The Senate Bill 25 is a bill that will prevent parents from suing their doctors if their children are born with disabilities. Essentially, this creates a loophole in that this bill might result in doctors lying to their patients about the condition of their baby in order to prevent them from aborting. However, supporters of this bill claim it is simply to protect both the rights of doctors from "wrongful birth" lawsuits and the rights of the disabled, and is overall founded on the idea that a life is not an "injury" in which parents would need damage payment for. Its flaws are pretty translucent as it seems, as Margret Johnson said this bill will allow doctors to withhold vital information on the babies health in order to prevent parents to make a formal decision on whether or not to continue with the birth. It is clear to see the anti-abortion aspect of this bill without explicitly saying it. The several issues are clear to see, this bill rights a wrong and will protect doctors, and will also allow doctors to impose their own moralities within these cases. Though the author includes lots of rhetoric against this bill, he also includes several positions of the Republican supporters, some of whom believe that current laws promote abortions which is why this bill is a necessary one. Despite this, it is clear throughout the article that this bill will allow for doctors to commit malpractice without getting the proper (or any) punishments for the damages they cause. In defiance of all the oppositions, the committee voted unanimously to send the bill to the full Senate.  

As stated by several other very woke men and women throughout this article, the Senate Bill 25 is one that erects several questions and concerns. My ultimate reaction is that it is simply a bill to strip women of their reproductive rights without straight straightforwardly banning abortion. Instead, this bill creates a loophole that will allow for doctors to lie to patients about the health of their babies for extremely minimal punishment in return (if any). This bill is also an extreme threat to babies with potential disabilities, especially if action during pregnancy can be taken but the doctor fails to tell them due to the ideas that 1.) if they do tell the parents they might consider aborting the child (which the majority of Texans are against) and 2.) that they won't even be sued for lying so why not?!. I think it is ironic that this bill is be founded on the protection of the rights of the disabled when this bill in fact could put their lives at risk, especially if a doctor fails to tell the parents of a disability and the parents are then highly unprepared to take care of this child, and won't receive the funds normally provided from the lawsuit, therefore it does not protect the disabled in any way shape or form, other than preventing the termination of life that should not even be up to anyone other than the woman herself, let alone the government. In conclusion, I firmly believe this bill is horrendous and I hope for the sake of everyone in Texas that it dies in committee. 

Google spinoff Waymo has built its own self-driving sensors

1/8/17

"Google spinoff Waymo has built its own self-driving sensors"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2017/01/08/google-spinoff-waymo-has-built-its-own-self-driving-sensors/?hpid=hp_no-name_hp-in-the-news%3Apage%2Fin-the-news&utm_term=.ec88a2b4da62

This article is exactly as the title depicts it. As Steven Overly describes in his article, Waymo has developed 360 degree sensors that will essentially allow cars to drive themselves. It has better data, highly developed software and the companies are looking to expand all aspects of the hardware and essentially make it more sophisticated and actually usable within the near future. One of the other latest updates reported within this article is that in October of 2015 this very company completed its first ever ride with no driver controlling the vehicle. It is clear throughout this article that regardless as to whether or not we are aware, technology is rapidly expanding, for better or for worse. 

This article, though not directly related to politics or government, is big news. We are yet another step closer to developing cars that do not need to be driven. With President Elect Trump's inauguration coming up, I cannot help but think about the upcoming four years. Though we will more than likely expand our technology database and usage infinitely over the next for years, heading straight into a reality that was the endless amounts of futuristic Pixar movies. However, despite our constant development and advancement of new technology, I feel as though we will be regressing in terms of political and social issues. It is funny how the two are coming together, but only time will tell.