4/29/10
Oklahoma's Abortion Law
We interrupt regular programming to bring you this important story. I couldn't be more appalled by the new abortion law just passed in Oklahoma. Under the new law, all women must have sonograms before abortions--no exceptions. The doctor must show the woman the screen and describe whatever heartbeat, organs, limbs, etc., they see there. (On the other hand, women can't sue doctors if they don't mention abnormalities they may see.) It's one thing to offer women the option of a sonogram. To require it and offer unrequested information is a completely unacceptable violation of a woman's privacy and autonomy. Appalling.
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4 comments:
I heard about this, and as a pro-choicer, I was appalled just like you... But then I got to thinking, if a person were to make a responsible decision about abortion, they would need as much information as possible. Is this law helping to inform the patient about the procedure that they're choosing?
No doubt, there are people who are choosing to have abortions, with misguided beliefs. When I teach abortion in my ethics class, I have to preface the entire class with facts so Pro-choice students don't start making ridiculous arguments like the fetus is not alive, or it is not human, etc.
It is rather emotionally manipulative though, and that is probably what offends me the most.
When I teach abortion, I actually teach about fetal development. I think the facts are relevant to the moral issues. But this is obvious, and someone about to have an abortion can gather the facts if they wish. I don't even object to the doctor asking a woman if she'd like information. It's another thing to force the woman to have the information. It's going way, way too far to force her to actually visualize the fetus, which isn't necessary in order to know the facts. Clearly, the goal is emotional manipulation.
It's going way, way, way too far to insist on ultrasound when it can be an invasive procedure. Very early ultrasound has to be done vaginally.
The whole thing is revolting. You have to really visualize it to know how revolting it is. Getting vaginally probed against your will is...right, it's rape. I think the Republicans up in Oklahoma ought to be forced to see what this is like (perhaps they'd enjoy a bit of anal ultrasound?) before making this mandatory for women seeking abortions.
To tie this into to the regular programming... With similar logic, one could force people in restaurants to watch slaughterhouse footage before they eat meat.
mmm... yeah, I forgot about the vaginal entry for early ultrasounds.... Yeah, that makes it a lot more yucky.
Another example of the different realities that men and women live in. Most medical examinations on men are the non-invasive kind.
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