6 June 2006 - 9:52am
What is happening here? Abortion rights eroding fast
The House passed an anti-abortion bill in Louisiana by a margin of 85-17 that goes as far as rejecting exceptions for rape and incest.
http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/articles/2006/06/02/news...
The bill contains language allowing for medication to be used to block fertilization, therefore apparently eliminating the need for exceptions.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco says she will sign the bill when it comes to her desk, but at a rate of 85-17, it seems that the bill is nearly in place.
What has happened to abortion rights? Have we been sleeping? With all the women who have had abortions and those who haven't but support the right, how has progressed this far? I mean, I'm really wondering here. This is insane. According to the article, 11 states have introduced similar bills. Where is the outrage? I'm sickened. Is there anyone out there listening?
Similar entries
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Comments
Thank the LORD!!! FINALLY someone is doing something about the disgusting and foul process known as "abortion"! Are you kidding me?! Abortion "rights"?!!
What about forced pregnancy do you find so wonderful?
You may be opposed to abortion, and no one is asking you to have one, but a woman who wants the freedom to terminate a pregnancy need not ask anyone's permission to do so. The fact is, women are going to take control of their bodies anyway, knitting needles, scalding hot baths and bottle of whiskey... why force woman into a place of desperation without a place to turn?
The sickening thing to me is when women themselves don't even realize when their rights are being violiated.
Anne
There is a way of thinking that says people have souls and these souls are placed in the womb at the moment a sperm and egg are united. This is in large part a religious view, although there are some non-religious people who subscribe that a sperm and egg united is a human being.
This religious view is forwarded in the legislation we see. From the comment above about "the lord" underscores that perfectly.
We hear of cases where the Ten Commandments have been put public buildings ... such as Court Houses. Conflating religious beliefs with laws is what the nation seems to be going through.
What all this amounts to is making a religious view, law.
It's not just about the "life" of the fetus -- if it were, I'd have a little more respect for their position, although I'd still disagree with it. It's about punishing women for being sexual -- that's the reason why we see the same people working against birth control and comprehensive sex education which could prevent abortion and for the immunization to prevent cervical cancer. Their position is anti-woman, not pro-life.
I agree with what you say. A generation before mine, mothers warned their daughters, "bad things come to bad girls."
We have legislatures that can ban abortion, but won't ban cigarettes. It is easier to push women around than to stand up to Big Tobacco.
It is going to taken women and men to stand up to those who wish to punish women for the sins of the father. Never is it so clear as when the victim of rape or incest is forced to carry a fetus to term.
Stepping back ... From Mark Twain's, "Letters from the Earth"
You know what I have been thinking... especially after reading the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848... is it possible that we as Feminists aren't doing our jobs?
"Resolved, That women of this country ought to be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they live, that they may no longer publish their degratation by declaring themselves satisfied with their present position, nor their ignorance, by asserting that they have all the rights they want."
We obviously lack solidarity... and don't we need a 'critical mass?' and 'collective consciousness?'...
Statements like... 'Oh yeah women have come a long way!!!' and 'Oh well our chuch has moved forward... look we allow women ministers...' should not be good enough answers.
I think I'm frustrated enough and angry enough... I am losing sleep at night. I can't watch television, or listen to the radio, or listen to people on the bus, or go to church without being offended and enraged... I see it everywhere, women are like frogs in a kettle right now...
The roots of women's oppression run deep. Looking at women's oppression is something like not wanting to kick over a rock to see what's under it.
Well, I'm new here, but my take is that feminist argument for choice needs and overhaul. We waste our time debating over what a fetus is or isn't: we are mostly in agreement that like begets like ( ala singer). Likewise, the argument about rape or incest is similarly ineffective due to the statistically miniscule number of abortions performed for those reasons. (due mostly to the unwillingness to label and everyday asshole a rapist, but that is another rant..).
We need to redefine the 'health of the mother' in feminist terms that wholly disallows the argument that the pursuit of life liberty and happiness is a convenience for women and a right for men.
The incidence of domestic abuse nearly triples when a woman is pregnant. Women, lots of them, die from domestic abuse. This IS a matter of life and death, and not convenience.
A woman with a child is also forced to mother that child, and if she is unable to mother according to social standards the child is taken and the mother is subject to court involvemnt and potential imprisonment. This is also a negative effect on the health of the mother. And please, we must NOT let a woman's economic, social, and academic future be trivialized anymore. A woman with a child becomes society's bitch, with little say over parenting or personal choices. A woman's life prospects can not be dismissed as petty or matters of economic inconvenience.
I am willing to accept that a fetus is a life, I am further willing to assert that many women are only able to save one of those lives, and that she has the right to choose whether she will live or die.