New Anti-Abortion Tactics

[neadods]

I'm about to link to an article from Montana, so before people say "that doesn't affect you," yes, I know this isn't my state or even my coast. But link I shall, because I think we're seeing the opening of a new set of anti-abortion tactics.

The new GOP-led state legislature has unveiled eight new abortion-related bills they want drafted. These include:

- Rep. Keith Regier of Kalispell, to criminalize the death of an unborn child. God help you if you miscarry and can't prove it, ladies!

- Sen. Jim Shockley of Victor, to require girls younger than 16 to get parental permission to have an abortion. It sounds so reasonable and family friendly. Have I ever mentioned that I personally know someone who was knocked up by her own father at age 15?

- Rep. Wendy Warburton of Havre, to amend the state Constitution to define a person by declaring that human life begins when an egg is fertilized. See my first comment

- Rep.-elect Alan Hale of Basin, to revise health laws regarding abortion. Because, according to news reports in other states, "life and health of the mother" is actually MEANINGLESS because doctors can just decide shit like that on their own without getting antiabortionist input. So God help you if that pregnancy goes wrong, ladies, because health and life exceptions shouldn't be made.

- Rep. Cary Smith of Billings, to regulate family planning and abortion clinics. Regulate... how? Heath and life actually have legal meaning; does "regulate"?

- Rep. Pat Ingraham of Thompson Falls, to require women to have an ultrasound before an abortion. Been passed before. Known to add to stress and distress. I haven't heard of any occasions where it made a woman change her mind, though

- Sen. Jeff Essmann of Billings, to create the crime of obstructing a protest at a health care facility. The money shot, people. A crime not to obstruct the clinic itself, but to obstruct the protest. Like, say, escorts taking patients past the people shoving things at you. Escorts talking to you to drown out the shouts. Escorts standing between patients and cameras. I've done all of that. ALL of that, including blocking with my body. And now someone wants to make that illegal.

- Rep. Mike More of Gallatin Gateway, to provide abortion screening to prevent provider negligence and patient coercion. Another standard, meaningless bit of propaganda. It sounds so reasonable - and yet how are these to be measured? By what standards? Especially 'patient coercion' - neither the doctors nor the escorts go grabbing women off the streets nor block their exit once they go into the clinic. There have been some heartbreaking cases where a woman goes into the clinic and comes back out almost immediately and then sits in the car for a long time, arguing/talking/crying with whoever they went in with. You think we all don't know what's going on? Sometimes they go back in. Sometimes they drive off. You know what NEVER happens? Nobody pulls them back in. None of the escorts argue with them or even talk to them unless directly addressed... it's our job in those cases to make sure that they have privacy and that the protesters don't start pushing their literature right up against the car or come into the private parking lot to shout at them. We know it is a CHOICE, we know the choice isn't easy, and we know that it's not our right to make that choice, just make sure that the legal options remain open.

So don't talk to someone about 'patient coercion' if they haven't stood in a fucking parking lot trying not to cry because someone is hurting THAT MUCH and you can't do jack shit about it... except literally and silently stand with your back to them between them and the person shouting "BABY KILLER! DON'T KILL YOUR BABY! JESUS LOVES YOU!" Who's doing the fucking coercion then?

Comments

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to find the study, but I remember seeing somewhere that somewhere between 50%-75% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, just that the woman is unaware the fertilization even happened in many of them.

Imagine all those women going through IVF where it "doesn't take". I know more than one woman who has gone through IVF, where multiple embryos were created, but never implanted. It's obvious she *WANTS* the baby (or she wouldn't be spending that kind of money), but would she be prosecuted for it now?

For that matter, what happens with "snowbabies", those frozen embryos that are left over from IVF procedures? Will it be considered murder to eliminate those never used?

Slippery slope does not even begin to cover it... I am reminded of a friend of mine whose baby was diagnosed with renal agenosis last year... The baby had no kidneys and would not survive more than hours after birth. It is difficult enough to have to make the choice to terminate, but now they would force someone to carry to term because her health isn't important enough to carry again?

[lagilman]

A friend of mine refers to this as "The White Man's Fear" -- they see the growing racial imbalance and want to make sure white women - who historically have had better access to birth control decisions -- have no choice but to build up the level of white babies in the land.

If so, this is even more chilling than 'just' religious fervor. Also, more disgusting (I can see, if not understand, the 'every life is sacred' belief. The 'every white is sacred' freaks me the fuck out.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I've been told (but don't have any hard data to prove it) that abortion clinics in majority-black neighborhoods are rarely terrorized. That would tend to support your friend's assertion, if true.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

That's starting to change - there are now posters (and antis shouting) that abortion = black genocide, that Margaret Sanger was a racist, and thus the caring, kind, appropriate reaction is to block abortion of minority babies.

[museclio]

Don't forget - it's usually the white men talking about the Black genocide.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

We have mostly women since Pamphlet Guy moved away, but yeah. I do find it completely hilarious that white protesters are accusing white escorts of racism.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

At the March for Women's lives, one woman came storming off the sidewalk to shout at me that her son had had to go to Korea to adopt because "white women had aborted all their babies."

However, what I've seen more is the need for the militant radical fundie to outbreed the atheist (see "quiverfull") rather than white women.

However, the big push now, as I say to Starcat, is to label abortion as "black genocide" and try to eliminate it for minorities. Eeyore has accused us escorts of being racists for ushering minority women into the clinic, she has screamed "Black genocide! They commit black genocide in there!" at women of color.

There are also billboards going up in Alabama and Wisconsin (of all places!) with the same message. PolitiFact Wisconsin crunches the numbers of abortion rates here

[neadods.livejournal.com]

would she be prosecuted for it now?

Arguably yes, if someone really wanted to get their knickers in a knot about reckless endangerment of a child, in that if the odds are bad enough to miscarry and blastocyte=baby...

now they would force someone to carry to term because her health isn't important enough to carry again?

There's no "now" about it. There are plenty of arguments that "health of the mother" can be defined too loosely and thus should be eliminated from the laws.

And if her health is damaged enough to prevent her from carrying again... well, it's all God's will anyway. (Sorry, I know you're religious and I'm not trying to be mean. This is what is actually being said, including to my face by Eeyore. Her beliefs in what she thinks God wants trumps everyone else's rights, period, in her head.)

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

I'm religious?

*blink blink*

Husband can be, I'm a non practicing agnostic (don't know, not going out of my way to find out).

And yes, I've had friends who have been told it's all part of God's will, God's plan, etc... Feh. Sorry, but if you want to say it's part of God's will, then so is the education of people to actually know how to do this.

I have heard more women be victimized by "god fearing persons" in the name of *shaming* them for having miscarriages... *ptui*

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Oh! Sorry, thought you shared Hubby's sentiments. As for mine... *points to icon*

[faireraven.livejournal.com]

Hubby's been getting less and less sentimental. *smirk*

Me, I've always been "take it or leave it, but don't force me to do it." Since he's never had a problem with this, there is no issue. ;)