Anti-woman action and legislation in this country is out of control. Take a look at what’s happening right now:
Congress
The House voted to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides millions of people affordable healthcare including sex education, contraception, and screens for cervical and other cancers. The move came under the guise of trimming the budget. Meanwhile, the Army’s multimillion dollar sponsorship of NASCAR, was approved.
Pending legislation includes H.R. 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act“, which caused an uproar because it included language about “forcible” rape. Isn’t all rape forcible? Legislators promised to remove that phrasing but guess what? It’s still there. And remember, there is no federal funding of abortion today.
H.R. 358, the so-called “Protect Life Act,” can be interpreted so that medical personnel can refuse services to a woman in need of an abortion, even if the woman’s life is in jeopardy.
State-level Activity
Georgia: There’s a bill on the books in Georgia, HB 1 which seeks to make prenatal murder unlawful and punishable by death. Miscarriages are exempt from the bill so long as “there is no human involvement whatsoever.” And how is that determined? According to the bill, “When a spontaneous fetal death required to be reported by this Code section occurs without medical attendance at or immediately after the delivery or when inquiry is required by … the ‘Georgia Death Investigation Act,’ the proper investigating official shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall prepare and file the report within 30 days.”
Texas: Legislators in the Lone Star State are discussing whether a woman seeking an abortion must see a sonogram and hear the heartbeat first, even if the pregnancy was the result of sexual assault.
At the risk of going to jail, I’ll tell you my first pregnancy resulted in miscarriage. During my second pregnancy I was so scared I asked my doctor at each visit for a sonogram in order to calm my fears. I didn’t get them because my insurance wouldn’t pay for them. And yet the funding exists for forced sonograms.
Nebraska: Despite the fact South Dakota abandoned a similar bill, Nebraska legislators are considering LB 232 which says, “the use of force upon or toward the person of another is justifiable” in order to protect an unborn child.
Virginia: The State Senate just passed a bill that requires abortion clinics to be regulated like hospitals. The bill requires clinics to retrofit their facilities in order to meet hospital standards and submit to an expensive certification process. The bill is framed by supporters as a pro-woman bill seeking to improve their medical care, but they don’t seem to be concerned about other medical procedures that are performed in doctor’s offices instead of hospitals like colonoscopies, cosmetic and dental surgery.
The hypocrisy of these bills is unbelievable.
- Limiting access to prenatal care and contraception,
- redefining rape,
- refusing to care for a woman in need of help,
- criminal investigations of miscarriages,
- forcing a rape victim to see a sonogram,
- justifiable use of force,
all in the name of life.
The United States ranks poorly for maternity leave policies, infant mortality rates and maternal death rates. More than two women die every day in the United States from pregnancy related causes. And the incidences of “near-miss” complications, where a woman comes close to dying from pregnancy or childbirth, have increased since 2005. And yet, the lawmakers sponsoring these bills are blocking access to much-needed health services.
Ladies, call your Senators and Representatives and tell them to stay out of your uterus and take care of the country.
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The United States ranks low among industrialized countries when it comes to maternal care and lacks a nationwide policy of paid maternity leave. However, women in one of the largest states, California, are now guaranteed maternity care health coverage thanks to a bill introduced by Senator Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and signed into law this past week by Governor Jerry Brown. SB 222, the Maternity Coverage Availability Act, requires health insurance plans to provide maternity coverage as part of their individual health insurance policies. Although the law has required group insurance plans to include maternity coverage, the number of policies that include that coverage has dropped from 82 percent in 2004 to only 12 percent in 2010.
