Life Saving New Born Test won't be Mandated by Legislature.

From the party that believes a fertilized egg has the same rights as a fully grown adult, comes this total disregard for life. 

National Treasurer of ALEC, State Sen. Leah Vukmir did everything she could to muck up newborn testing for congenital heart disease. And the ghouls at the Wisconsin Hospital Association were behind her obstruction. These bottom line bottom feeding lobbyists don’t give a rats ass about babies.

Here convoluted thinking on this important lifesaving bill went something like this:

jsonline: She believes decisions about newborn screening should be made by an existing committee of medical professionals, not state lawmakers. But the expert committee ... "strongly" recommended screening all infants in Wisconsin for critical congenital heart disease, two years ago … although Vukmir thinks Wisconsin law does not allow this committee to recommend tests completed at the hospital.

Now, the senator says she is preparing a new measure to ensure that the heart disease test is decided in the same manner as other newborn screening tests. But that process still leaves final approval to the group Vukmir believes ill-equipped to decide such questions: the state Legislature.

Vukmir’s highly irresponsible and ideologically driven thinking is playing games with a new born baby’s life for god’s sake. She was fine allowing over a dozen hospitals to skip the lifesaving test.

So Vukmir decided to remove all newborn requirements, allowing DHS to write in whatever the hospital lobby wants, in whatever time frame they see fit.

jsonline: A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation in December found a 2010 study found that nine newborns in the state died at home or in the emergency room over a five-year period because the heart disease went undetected.

The bill won't mandate the $4 test, but would give the go-ahead to the state Department of Health Services to begin writing rules requiring hospitals to add the test as part of its newborn screening program.

The chairs of the Assembly and Senate committees with responsibility over the proposed requirement had said the bill wasn't necessary, because most hospitals were doing it on their own. Tuesday's bill, sponsored by Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Wauwatosa), has the backing of the Wisconsin Hospital Association.

So now you've got to ask yourself, “do you feel lucky, punk?” After all, Tuesday's bill has the backing of the Wisconsin Hospital Association. Why is that?