Escalating lunacy

It's a lovely crescent moon this evening up here in the Northern Hemisphere so I can't blame the latest unbelievable and irrational happenings on a full moon (which would be unscientific, of course). Okay, maybe sunspots?

First, the Bush administration was proposing draft legislation to grant medical professionals the right to withhold care, prescriptions, etc., based upon religious beliefs or other objections by reclassifying birth control pills and IUDs as "abortion." PalMD covered this among others, but reminded me of several of my old posts on my objections to pharmacists refusing to fill legitimate prescriptions for emergency contraception and such:

Pharmacists, emergency contraception, and the responsibilities of a profession
Pharmacist "conscientious objection": a pharmacist's right or professional negligence?

Then I get an e-mail Sunday from the Foundation for Biomedical Research about the firebombing the homes of two UC-Santa Cruz researchers with a "Molotov cocktail on steroids.":

While a spokesman said he didn't know who committed the act, the Woodland Hills-based Animal Liberation Front called the attacks a "necessary" act, just like those who fought against civil rights injustices. Spokesman Dr. Jerry Vlasak showed no remorse for the family or children who were targeted.

"If their father is willing to continue risking his livelihood in order to continue chopping up animals in a laboratory than his children are old enough to recognize the consequences,'' said Vlasak, a former animal researcher who is now a trauma surgeon. "This guy knows what he is doing. He knows that every day that he goes into the laboratory and hurts animals that it is unreasonable not to expect consequences."

Clark, the Santa Cruz police captain, said it was "unconscionable'' for anyone to defend such acts: "To put this on par with any of the human rights issues is an absolute insult to the integrity of the people who fought and went through the human rights movement. This is what people do when they have an inability to articulate their point in any constructive way. They resort to primal acts of violence. Any reasonable person would need a logic transplant to begin to understand this level of degraded thinking."

Several colleagues have this covered as well, with Orac especially detailed on the genius that is Dr Jerry Vlasak.

Yes, Capt Clark, a logic transplant would indeed be necessary.

(If I missed anyone's link to either story, feel free to put it in the comments - I've got to go lie down and take some medicine.)