Well, suppose it’s time for me to give the obligatory “Year in Review” report on abortion rights.
I’ve always been a bit of an optimist when it comes to the future of Roe and access to abortion, but I’m not so sure anymore. Sure, when it comes to the basic right to abortion, we’re still in decent shape in the Supreme Court. They don’t have the votes to overturn Roe. But all we need is an anti-abortion President to be elected in 2016 and, without the threat of a filibuster (thanks to the Democrats in the Senate), it may be a little more difficult to stop an extremist from being appointed to the Court. And, depending on which legal authority you subscribe to, all the antis need is maybe one vote to reverse Roe. Indeed, I really wish some of the older more liberal justices would resign now so Obama can at least make those seats secure.
But when it comes to access issues, there is no doubt the anti-abortion movement is on a legislative roll. In 2013 alone, 22 states adopted 70 different restrictions, including late-abortion bans, doctor and clinic regulations and limits on the use of the abortion pill. Twenty-four states have barred abortion coverage by the new health exchanges and nine of them forbid private insurance plans, as well, from covering most abortions. A dozen states have barred most abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on a theory of fetal pain that has been rejected by major medical groups. Such laws violate the viability threshold and have been struck down in three states, but proponents hope the Supreme Court will come up with a new standard.
What’s most frightening, however, are the laws that on their face seek to “protect the health of women seeking abortions” by imposing severe regulations on the clinics. Such regulations include absurd requirements like mandating that hallways be a certain width (to get the gurney out when a woman has an emergency). Personally, I have never heard of a patient getting stuck in a hallway and it might not sound like a big deal to some to widen the hall, but when you think about how much it might actually cost to get the necessary permits, hire construction crews, etc., it’s an onerous and very expensive proposition. Some of the new laws also require the clinic to provide more parking spaces, as if that’s an easy thing to do, especially in a more urban environment.
We know that this is all a bunch of crap, that the antis do not give a hoot about making the abortion experience “safer,” but the anti-abortion legislators, like those in my home state of Virginia, are buying it. They just get their marching orders from their local “Right to Life” chapter and vote in lock step. Chalk up another victory for “women’s health!”
But, truth be told, these regulations are starting to severely restrict access to abortion services. For example, there is now only one clinic left in the state of Mississippi and in North Dakota and both of them are hanging by their fingernails in the face of a legislative onslaught led by the local anti-abortion forces.
The bottom line is that more and more clinics are closing and women are now travelling further to get abortions. Please note what I said – many of them are STILL getting abortions, even if it means having to miss several days of work to travel to another state. On the other hand, many other women are simply deciding to give birth to an unwanted child instead of losing three days of pay.
The only thing we can hope for is that ultimately there will be a backlash in this country on the political front and there is some evidence that that may be occurring. For example, right here in Virginia we recently elected an outspoken pro-choice Governor who will hopefully reverse some severe clinic regulations that were passed two years ago that threaten the existence of several clinics in the state. And the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League points to other recent successes on the political front.
Let’s hope it is not too late.
January 5, 2014 at 12:33 pm
Excellent article!
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January 8, 2014 at 3:22 pm
Thanks, Elena. We certainly have a lot of work to do. Will this battle ever end?
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February 8, 2014 at 1:04 am
I was seloiusry at DefCon 5 until I saw this post.
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January 5, 2014 at 7:10 pm
I believe that woman do have a choice. They have a choice to use protection so they donot get pregnant if they donot want to.
But I donot believe it is right to take the life of another because you were careless and couldn’t be bothered to take precautions. I donot believe it is ever right to take another life at any time under any circumstance.
Some will argue that their are certain circumstances that warrant abortion. Like what if my 14 year old daughter were to get pregnant? Do you really think that having ones 14 year old daughter get an abortion is less traumatic and better for her when she has to live with the fact that she killed her unborn child. I can’t say I have talked to very many people that have had an abortion that feel it was the right choice and donot suffer emotional trauma from doing so. And you may say that the fetus isn’t a living human being. Well if it isn’t a living human being we wouldn’t be having this discussion for you wouldn’t have to worry about having an unwanted child and their would be no such thing as abortion.
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January 5, 2014 at 7:45 pm
Dr. Colleen Haussecker . . .
I have never come across a single intelligent anti choicer – I am guessing here is one out there, but I won’t hold my breath.
Maybe you are the first?
Most Antis take a dogmatic position without educating themselves on the issues.
1) Is a blastomere cell a baby?
Is a blastomere biopsy OK?
2) Is abortion OK for a Cornual Pregnancy?
3) Is abortion OK for a Partial Molar Pregnancy?
4) Should women be allowed to use Hormonal Birth Control?
5) If you disagree with abortion and think it is murder what penalty would you like to see for women that obtain the Abortion Pill on their own?
6) Should Women have access to present infertility treatments?
7) You write:
“I donot believe it is ever right to take another life at any time under any circumstance.”
What do you think about the Bush ’43 War debacle that cost taxpayers $2-3 trillion?
Was it OK to kill OBL, or to Bomb near Hitler’s shelter during WWII?
8) Should an 11 year old girl that was raped by her father be allowed an abortion? Or should the child be forced to gestate to term and possibly loose her life or womb?
9) Is it OK to kill the pregnancy that implants in the abdomen?
10) Is it OK for a woman with Cervical Cancer stage IIb to be treated properly? Even though that means killing the pregnancy?
11) You write:
“I can’t say I have talked to very many people that have had an abortion that feel it was the right choice and donot suffer emotional trauma from doing so.”
Your personal experience is probably accurate given your predisposition. However the data is very clear. Are you employing the classical faulty logic of Personal Incredulity to trump well established fact?
12) You also wrote:
“And you may say that the fetus isn’t a living human being.”
Who are you addressing? Who are you stipulating wrote what you said they wrote?
13) Is the IUD OK?
14) Is The Morning After Pill OK?
15) Should the fertilized single cell egg be given the same rights of a citizen as a full grown adult woman?
It would be a grand pleasure to have an educated anti choicer finally opine on this site.
It is so boring writing to complete morons.
Tx!!!
😉
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January 5, 2014 at 7:47 pm
Don’t hold your breath Evan!!
Antis are never able to answer the simplest of questions.
They always evade questions.
Watch, this one will either not answer, or evade with the usual droll regurgitated nonsense,
I guarantee it.
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January 6, 2014 at 7:46 pm
Good luck,
Anti choices are too dumb to answer a question . .
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January 7, 2014 at 6:43 am
Stupid anti lifers. Can’t answer a simple question after they run their mouth!!!
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January 7, 2014 at 10:55 am
Why are christians so stupid? All the time!!
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January 8, 2014 at 3:34 pm
Wow, such broad generalizations about the antis! I dont think you folks are gonna accomplish anything (i.e., a civil debate) when you come out blasting away basically calling all antis morons and worse. Believe me, there are morons on both sides of the issue and lots of extremists. And, Tali, I find your comment particularly galling, calling folks like me, yes, me, “stupid”.
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January 9, 2014 at 8:35 pm
every christian i meet that believes what their bible says has been really stupid. I don’t know what to say. If they (you?) believe that bible then you believe really stupid things.
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February 8, 2014 at 8:39 pm
This ineocdurts a pleasingly rational point of view.
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January 5, 2014 at 8:02 pm
Dr. H~~
About half of ALL the women I know– and I worked professionally with several thousand mothers for over a quarter of a century– had an abortion. Without exception, the only ones who claimed to suffer emotional trauma from the abortion were the ones with severe and often crippling emotional injuries. It seemed that they just bundled their abortion experience in with all the other stuff. And I also during that same period of time worked professionally with thousands of children as well as raised my own– and I can assure you that the pain and dehumanizing stultification often accompanying being inappropriately cared for (often criminally inappropriate) merely introduced a “rescued” or “tolerated” baby to a life in Hell.
I find it curious that you consider somebody else’s fetus to be a living human being but do not offer to sacrifice your own time, money and energy to save it from a life of inhumanity. You could have adopted Ted Bundy (or some child like him) and saved the lives of three to five dozen young women. But instead, you just want to feel better knowing that no one is having an abortion. Rather self-centered, I would say.
Aborticentrism: a focus on abortion so strong as to preclude care for real human life.
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January 6, 2014 at 1:49 am
So, you want women to be discriminated against, if they are a) very fertile, b) sexually active, c) medically sensitive to hormones or any other forms of contraception and/or d) undereducated and poor. Not all contraception is 100% effective for all women all the time. In fact I would say not all contraception is 100% effective for MOST women, MOST of the time (which effectively squelches the very first point you made, dontcha think?). Women have just as much sexual freedoms as men do. Some women are allergic to latex or certain types of hormones, while others have complications with IUDs. And, finally, some women would have to choose between putting food on the table or buying a pack of condoms to protect themselves during sexual activity (but, remember, poor women have as much sexual freedom as the next woman). OR anti-choice activists have vilified contraception and comprehensive sex-ed so extensively, that women have no idea how to use contraceptives properly (which, of course, misogynistic anti-choicers then proceed to blame the women for, anyways. So much for the ‘responsibility’ screed that antis would like everyone ELSE to live by, eh?).
So, if you were being raped, you would let the rape continue to keep from killing your rapist? If so, no PRO-choicer is telling you that you cannot do that. Every anti-choicer, however, is telling you that you cannot defend yourself from rape, *ever*, FULL STOP.
I guarantee that most 14 year old girls will find it MORE traumatic to be FORCED to carry a pregnancy to term, give birth and either give up or raise the resulting child for the next 18 years. Because THAT is what we are talking about. The difference between FORCE and CONSENT. Nothing more, nothing less. Especially given that 14 year old girls bodies are far less developed than adult women’s. Their bodies would experience much more trauma and pain with regards to giving birth. That you would be willing to force that on your own daughter, by convincing (which is exactly what one would think you are doing, when the only way you can ever frame the issue IS with such emotionally-loaded and nonsensical terms) her that she would be ‘killing’ her ‘unborn child’, while deliberately ignoring not only the dangerous health AND life complications that follow ALL pregnancies, but the huge social responsibility that raising children brings, is just so SICK.
Finally, do you, as one poster already commented, believe that an egg and sperm are persons or that a fertilized egg is a person? If not, how is it possible for a human being to come into existence from ‘nothing’? If you respond that it is possible, then you just made our argument that a fetus does not need to be a human being and that a child can (read: does only) come into existence only AFTER birth occurs. Whoops! If you respond that it is impossible, then why is it that even antis deny the personhood of sperm and eggs? Oops? Also, what do you call a pregnancy termination in non-human animals? If you said abortion, you get the Kewpie doll prize! So, no, abortion does not just involve a ‘human being’. HERP DERP!
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January 6, 2014 at 6:49 am
Amazing how dumb anti lifers are, isn’t it?
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January 8, 2014 at 3:35 pm
Great post, VAshti!
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February 8, 2014 at 3:58 pm
Hi TashI know it sounds weird but when I add tnihgs in or the characters do tnihgs that are extra, then I just see it in terms of the outline. It probably works because my definition of an outline is fairly loose. IMHO there have to be a number of disasters or set-backs building up through the book before you reach a big conclusion. So if one of my characters goes off piste then I make sure it’s a disaster and fits in the right place in the plot!Graham
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January 6, 2014 at 4:19 pm
>>>I can’t say I have talked to very many people that have had an abortion that feel it was the right choice and donot suffer emotional trauma from doing so.<<>> And you may say that the fetus isn’t a living human being. <<<
well that's just silly! i don't know any choicers who say that the fetus isn't a living human being. what else would he or she be?
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January 8, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Actually, Rogie, I know a lot of pro choicers who would rather avoid that “is it a human being” question altogether and they certainly would not say it was a human being. I’m as open as they come, and I’m not sure if I would call it a “human being”. I would say it’s human, but….Ah, I’m all screwed up….
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January 12, 2014 at 5:06 pm
I think the issue is and always has been not whether it is human (it has human DNA, and that is inarguable), but whether and when it becomes a person. I would and have argued that by the brain birth hypothesis it becomes a person at the initiation of cortical activity, which occurs at 20 weeks, a month before most states recognize abortion to be legal (if not accessible). However, the conflation by pro-lifers of something that has no cortical function, and therefore is physiologically incapable of absolutely all higher functions we associate with ‘people’ with a born child is ridiculous, fallacious, and highly ignorant. The oft-repeated rhetorical question I have heard from countless pro-lifers, asking ‘What’s the difference between a woman having an abortion and someone strangling a child in its crib?’ is actually offensive in the magnitude of its ignorance.
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January 8, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Thank you for chiming in, Colleen. I respect your opinion. In my previous life, I talked to hundreds and thousands of women who have had abortions and, if you had the same experience, I think you might see things differently. Until you are in their shoes, it’s impossible to understand the need, yes, need to obtain an abortion. As for whether or not it is a “human being,” that assumes that women do not realize that they are carrying something that is/will be a “person” at some point. That is why the decision to have an abortion is such a difficult one. And, God forbid, if your daughter suddenly became pregnant, I think you would realize that it’s easier said than done to have that child.
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January 8, 2014 at 9:16 pm
Yoo hoo! Colleen!! Are you still there?
The rest is silence. . .
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February 8, 2014 at 1:22 am
That inhgist would have saved us a lot of effort early on.
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January 5, 2014 at 7:24 pm
Interesting.
There have been about 20,000 people that have cast votes on this poll.
From the crowd that votes “Yes,” 14 have tried to vote twice. Three of those tried to vote more than twice.
They cannot – the system won’t allow it. If they were to get through, it would then purge them anyway.
However, of the crowd that votes “No,” 90% try and cheat and vote more than once. Additionally, 70% of those people try and vote over 10 times – they are obviously too dumb to realize they aren’t skewing (or screwing) the poll.
Once again, the people that try to claim the moral “high ground” have proven they have claimed the moral “low ground.”
Sad bunch.
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January 6, 2014 at 6:50 am
I Love it!
The Anti’s cheat at a poll!
To give the perception they are right, when all they do is confirm the reality that they are they moral retards!
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January 6, 2014 at 3:44 pm
whether my fellow antis want to admit it or not, bodily autonomy is the bottom line.
it always has been and it always will be.
laws and polls and such can’t change that.
we don’t have to like it, but wouldn’t it be better if we just accepted it and stopped pissing and moaning and move on to focus on the underlying causes and work to change them?
doesn’t social justice matter?
isn’t that what is truly the moral high ground?
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January 8, 2014 at 3:38 pm
What poll????
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January 5, 2014 at 7:48 pm
I agree with this article.
A few of the old liberal judges need to resign so Obama can appoint young intelligent Judges.
It is very dangerous for them to stay on too long . . .
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January 5, 2014 at 8:05 pm
If they are opposed to abortion, they are not “liberal” judges. We are pretty much stuck with the wingnut appointments that started during the Lewis Powell years. They need to die off.
Trouble is, as Beyond the Fringe put it, “When you’re a miner and you’re old and sick and feeble-minded, they give you the boot. But it’s the exact opposite with the judging.
“So all in all, I’d rather have been a judge than a miner.”
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January 6, 2014 at 6:51 am
Even the famous Judges are dumb,
Look at Salomon –
When he said cut the baby in half,
knowing how dumb Judges are –
I don’t think he was kidding!!
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January 6, 2014 at 4:09 pm
awwww
i always liked that story and now it kinda sucks. 😦
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January 7, 2014 at 6:48 am
All joking aside,
If one looks at the political games Bathsheba was likely playing,
Look – she got Uriah sent to the philistine front,
That wasn’t very nice of David,
Then she probably was politicking for Salomon, even though it is alluded that David didm’t think Salomon was the best guy for the job,
A lot of literary license here,
It makes sense . . .
David chose Salomon after his miserable time with his own Father in law, to appease Bathsheba, even though Salomon probably wasn’t right for the job.
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January 8, 2014 at 3:40 pm
Deep, very deep….
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February 8, 2014 at 2:24 am
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February 8, 2014 at 7:13 pm
Right on target Mike I enjoy the diosicsusns but can live without some of the misplaced passion I believe Wolf hunting will be seen as normal preditor control as time goes on I heard a few stories in the U.P. the past few deer seasons about very bold Wolves following children and farmers wives A couple of hunting seasons would make the Wolves much more wary
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February 8, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Mike,I agree with your Blog post: the need to keep civil, and your prerogative to maange the Facebook page as you see fit.Civilized, even heated discussions are always acceptable. However, while rudeness is one thing, the threat of physical violence on another human (e.g. the head of a wolf hunter on Ms. Donna Fitzpatrick’s wall) exceeds all human decency, and has to be taken seriously.The matter is actually simple. A wolf hunting season in Michigan will provide the legal opportunity to hunt that species. Accept it and hunt a wolf, or reject it and stay home.In the meantime, our First Amendment right is guaranteed. However, with that right comes the responsibility to cope with anger and behave sensibly. Life-threatening is the complete opposite, and can never be tolerated.
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January 6, 2014 at 1:01 am
its women’s choice,being a woman and how the choices we make are no one’s business except our own..as a man who wish to be called man,you have no role in the abortion debates other than to unquestioningly support women in whatever choice they might choose to make..its our choice
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January 6, 2014 at 1:55 pm
It’s easy, keep government out of the womb and bedroom and back on clean food, energy, medicine and water. That includes local and state government!!!
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January 8, 2014 at 3:40 pm
Actually, I fear the state governments more at this point than the federal government!
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February 8, 2014 at 6:53 pm
Mike, I also believe that we need to keep the haritege of hunting alive and pass it down to the next generation as well. My daughter is only two and is interested already. Keep up the good work and talk to you later.
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January 6, 2014 at 4:08 pm
pattypoo, this is, as always, a great article, but do you really think that restrictions have an impact on the number of abortions?
i am not going to pull the line designated by the anti movement and try and claim that the TRAP laws are designed to make the procedure safer for women.
that’s a load of BS and we both know it.
but do you really think that they affect the number of abortions?
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January 8, 2014 at 3:43 pm
Good question, Rogie. And, of course, it’s probably impossible to prove the negative. I am just going with my gut and some experience on this one. I recall hearing stories about women in Mississippi electing to have the child because they could not get to the only clinic in the state. But it’s anectodal. Indeed, when I think about it, even closing all the clinics in Virginia would only send women to Maryland. But, again, you gotta figure that some women might be influenced by having to travel so far and “just” have the kid. Right on, as usual, Rogie…,
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February 9, 2014 at 1:03 am
Bet you they’re thinking that was FEDERAL Law, and it doesn’t apply to the State of New York.But I aawlys love the Irony of Yankees claiming “States Rights.”
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October 21, 2014 at 8:46 pm
Kudos to you! I hadn’t thought of that!
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January 7, 2014 at 8:30 pm
On the other hand, many other women are simply deciding to give birth to an unwanted child instead of losing three days of pay….I guess the anti’s are proving me wrong, you can force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term, I hope they are happy with themselves and are prepared to pay for that child with WIC, welfare and food stamps, oh wait they’re not…they could care less about the child once it emerges from the womb.
I still would like an answer from an anti to this question: What gives you the right to dictate what I can or cannot do with my own body? What gives you the right to dictate if I carry or abort my pregnancy? Who are to decide what is the correct decision for me, why should I have to live my life based on your thoughts and or beliefs? If you can hold such sway over my life and my decisions, perhaps I will come by your house and start dictating to you how you should live your life and see how you like it?
I think we should enact a law that demands if you are healthy adult that you MUST donate your blood every 8 weeks, you must have your bone marrow type on file so if someone needs bone marrow donation they know who they match, and then you have to donate your marrow. Adults would also be required by law to donate a kidney, and pieces of their liver and anything else they can donate. Everyone would be required to be an organ donor at the time of their death, To many people die waiting for transplants and if you anti’s are actually pro-life you should have no problem with these mandatory laws.
A life is a life and if you want to protect life you should be protecting all lives, correct? If I have no choice over what happens to my own body then neither should you…
So how about it anti’s this sound like something you want to propose and have enacted along with all your crazy anti-abortion laws?
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January 8, 2014 at 3:45 pm
Great post, Sara Rose! Unfortunately/fortunately, it looks like our local anti has already disappeared. Does that mean we are “winning” the debate or do they just think that we are the kooks/heathens/etc. and dont want to argue with us??
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January 9, 2014 at 9:00 am
Here is my comment and I hope the NSA likes it. ——- We see no attempt to limit our rights coming from our federal government. We see many attempts to limit our rights coming from the different state governments. In the case of abortion rights , these are mainly based upon the religious beliefs of those in power. We all know that our constitution protects us from having the religious beliefs of other forced upon us but since those who deny our rights don’t come right out and say their attempts to limit abortion rights are based upon THEIR religious beliefs , they get away with doing using all kinds of excuses. Now , we know that there is no penalty paid for violating our rights by elected officials. They can pass any legislation into law and the worst thing that can happen is our Supreme Court overturns it. No penalty for those responsible. Not even a slap on the wrist. That is the problem. There exists nothing to make scumbag elected state officials even consider the possible consequences of limiting our rights because there are no consequences. I suggest We The People change that. I propose we start a new organization and I have already picked out the name. Last Leg Freedom Fighters. This would be an organization made up of those on their last legs maybe dying from terminal diseases who have nothing to lose. This organization could place a penalty on those who seek to limit our rights and they would also be in charge of the punishment phase. It would not take too many actions against those who would limit our rights before the rest of the scumbags caught on that doing so is extremely unhealthy and may even be a life threatening.
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January 9, 2014 at 8:46 pm
Anti Choicers are scum
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January 10, 2014 at 3:09 am
Only certain of their leaders are scum; the rank and file are actually engaged in meeting deep psychological needs, much the way a person who has a pathological fear of losing control constantly washes his hands. How else can you explain the bizarre chasm between their claim to care for human life and their disregard for the needs of children?
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January 12, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Calemed1 Said: “I think the issue is and always has been not whether it is human (it has human DNA, and that is inarguable), but whether and when it becomes a person. . .”
Sad to say, that’s still arguing from the so-called “pro-life” point of view. We should argue it from a step earlier and ask “Why is it important to so-called “pro-lifers” that it be considered a human from the moment of conception?”
Ask that, and suddenly things start falling into place– if a fetus is not human, then their whole movement loses a lot of credibility. If being human then depends on in-utero nurturing (which so-called “pro-lifers” cannot provide) and years of postpartum nurturing (which they do not provide), their claim to care for human life is nothing more than a whoopee cushion trumpeting their presence.
So, why is it important to so-called “pro-lifers” that a fetus be considered fully human?
1. Because then by being against abortion, they can portray themselves as “rescuers,” and “moral,” etc.
2. Because then they don’t have to risk any time, money or effort in doing any more than what they feel like doing to be seen as the good guys (unlike parents, teachers, doctors, cops, etc., who have to learn how to work effectively with children, and who often sacrifice much to be good at it).
3. Because they are acting out an allegory to assure themselves of their own transcendence over the finality of Death– specifically, their own.
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January 17, 2014 at 1:51 am
Please like our page and let us know if your willing to be featured facebook.com/beautiesforchoice
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January 21, 2014 at 12:23 pm
Sara, just liked your page, not sure what you mean by being “featured.” Please explain….
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February 8, 2014 at 9:13 pm
Pat, the site is being spam attacked. Is there something that can be done about it?
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