This is the country I live in

[moonwise]

Next month the U.S. Supreme Court will hear argument about the obscene government overreach that is the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care law. Yet physical intrusion by government into the vagina of a pregnant woman is so urgently needed that the woman herself should be forced to pay for the privilege.

Virginia’s Proposed Ultrasound Law Is an Abomination

Comments

[mountain-hiker.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I live in a highly conservative (and evangelical) county here in Colorado. I'm surprised they don't try and do something like this, too. -_-

[arafel.livejournal.com]

They probably will, now that VA has set a precedent.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Time for a mass exodus of women from Virginia. If there is a significant migration to states that don't demand vaginal penetration of a reluctant woman, the governor and the state houses might reconsider.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Funny how the same people who pat themselves on the back for saving teh babbies aren't exactly volunteering to care for them.

[pointedview.livejournal.com]

This. And they surely don't want the gay people adopting them and giving them loving homes, either. They have a funny way of welcoming those new humans into the world.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

The gays ruin everything. Marriage, parenthood, you name it.

[toffeethesnob.livejournal.com]

*mouth agape*

And suddenly I'm much more appreciative of England's stance on abortion...

[arafel.livejournal.com]

What's England's stance?

[toffeethesnob.livejournal.com]

In England any woman is legally entitled to an abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy provided that it is carried out in a liscened hospital or clinic and that two doctors have consented and confirmed that it would cause less damage to the woman's physical and/or mental health to terminate the pregnancy rather than carry it out. The NHS webpage has a whole section over it along with the various methods, statistics and advice for women considering one.

There has of course been criticism over how easy it is to get an abortion here; for example it's possible for teenage girls to get access to abortion clinics via their school without their parents' knowledge or advice. And of course it is condemned by most religious factions but at least the national health service is open and neutral about providing the operation to women who need and want it.

I admit I sometimes find it odd that I'm prochoice given that my mother has admitted to me that I would've been aborted if the various medical examinations she had carried out had proved that I would've been mentally or physically handicapped (she was 40 when she gave birth to me and this was her first pregnancy so naturally she was fearful that something could go horribly wrong) but if I had been in her situation and it turned out that the baby was not going to be able to lead a normal and independent life, I would've made that exact same choice.

[skurtchasor.livejournal.com]

Warning: I'm putting on the Angry Moderate hat.

While I completely agree that mandatory ultrasounds are a steaming crock, trying to frame the counterargument in terms of the national healthcare debate is pretty damn foolish. Yes, let's take the issue of forced penetration, something that everyone who isn't a fundamentalist nutcase can very confidently oppose, thank you very much, and muddy the waters with a tie-in to the more contentious issue of the individual mandate, because that's a great way to win support for our position!

Oh, the article is from Slate. What I meant to say was "Kudos for again pointing out how the other side are a bunch of hypocrites, because that's the Most Important Thing."

[arafel.livejournal.com]

I agree that Slate is hardly an unbiased source; they lean heavily to the left. But, I enjoy reading their articles, so.

IMO, making the decision to have an abortion is hard enough without it being law to have a probe shoved up your cooter. It's a very clinical and uncomfortable moment. I speak from experience.

[skurtchasor.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're pretty much in agreement there (even though as a Testicled American, I can't speak to this from personal experience). What I'm saying is that this an important issue, and a lot more people are likely to support it if it isn't hijacked by the debate over the individual mandate.

Now if you want some real right-wing hypocrisy, Rick Santorum supports mandatory ultrasounds under the guise that it provides more information to women about their pregnancy, but Rick Santorum opposes prenatal testing, even though....you guessed correctly, it provides more information to women about their pregnancy.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Santorum apparently doesn't realize that ultrasounds are used, in part, to detect fetal abnormalities.

It's a twisted sort of logic he has. He's pro-life (natch), and I know one of his daughters has a trisomy. The NIH statistics show that an overwhelming number of parents who are informed that their child has a severe chromosomal defect choose to abort. It's something like 85 - 90%. So, if the parents are never told that their child has a chromosomal defect, they won't abort. Never mind that some of these defects result in stillborn infants, or children who live short and painful lives.

What an asshole.

[archaeologist-d.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised there isn't more of an outcry about this and the VA personhood law, too. Plus that whole debacle with the Congressional House committee and the birth control/religious freedom inquiry and how they wouldn't allow some women to testify (even though they had lots of priests/ministers/etc). Seems like a war on women's rights is raging.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Everyone knows that bitches should just get back in the kitchen and make their menfolk some sammiches.

[ssilverfish.livejournal.com]

Oh god, not "the wand."

This is wrong on so many levels, I hardly know where to begin, but the memory of the OB lubing up the instrument for the ultrasound is the thing foremost in my mind here. And I *wanted* to see the baby. I think people toss around the word rape rather liberally these days, but in this case, I think it might apply. Nobody should be forced into that ultrasound procedure.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

The method of obtaining the ultrasound is bad enough, and on top of that, these women have made a painful decision. Way to make everything worse.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I am so fucking angry. I actually had to have a transvaginal ultrasound this week (possible fibroids) and NO.

[arafel.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I'm so sorry that you have to go through that. Fibroids are awful. My mom had a terrible time with them, and I'm at risk for them, too.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I'm torn between hoping that's not it, and hoping it is because if this is just pre-menopause, it really sucks.