Sunday, July 13, 2008
Anti-abortion measures in three states
6 comments
Anti-abortion measures are littering the November ballots in California, Colorado, and South Dakota. Shit like this really scares me because I feel like we're progressing back about 40 years. The measures are:
California: an amendment that will require parental consent and a 48-hour waiting period for minor to obtain an abortion. Also, a measure to ban abortion once the fetus reaches 24 weeks, thereby labeling anyone who has an abortion or performs one after 24 weeks a "murderer."
Colorado: an initiative to label a fertilized egg as a person with full constitutional rights.
South Dakota: an initiative to ban abortion completely, except in cases when the mother's life is in danger, or has been a victim of rape or incest.
Bad news. 48-hour waiting period and parental consent laws usually don't cut down on the number of abortions, but rather cause women to delay their abortions. As we all know, the longer a woman waits, the more the fetus develops and the greater risk the abortion poses to her health. Deeming a fertilized egg a "person" will cause these so-called rights to completely trump all rights of the woman who must carry the child for nine months and endure the hardships that come along with childbirth. And I don't think I have to remind you that banning abortion will not cut down on abortions, but instead will cause women to either travel out of state to obtain abortions or turn to unsafe and illegal methods out of desperation.
I volunteer at a Planned Parenthood near my house as a clinic escort. Basically I have to stand outside and watch the protesters to make sure that they don't break any laws. They are nasty people who yell obscenities at the patients entering the clinic, calling them murderers, or targeting them if they are visibly black or latina with sayings such as, "You know they kill black/Spanish babies in there." They tell men who enter the clinic that, "Real men don't kill babies." They carry signs with pictures of dead babies on them, when in actuality, the fetus that is being aborted is much, much smaller. But if they represented the fetuses accurately I guess the women they harass wouldn't be as upset. They stand and stare at us and tell us we have no morals. And they are all old white men.
It really kills me.
California: an amendment that will require parental consent and a 48-hour waiting period for minor to obtain an abortion. Also, a measure to ban abortion once the fetus reaches 24 weeks, thereby labeling anyone who has an abortion or performs one after 24 weeks a "murderer."
Colorado: an initiative to label a fertilized egg as a person with full constitutional rights.
South Dakota: an initiative to ban abortion completely, except in cases when the mother's life is in danger, or has been a victim of rape or incest.
Bad news. 48-hour waiting period and parental consent laws usually don't cut down on the number of abortions, but rather cause women to delay their abortions. As we all know, the longer a woman waits, the more the fetus develops and the greater risk the abortion poses to her health. Deeming a fertilized egg a "person" will cause these so-called rights to completely trump all rights of the woman who must carry the child for nine months and endure the hardships that come along with childbirth. And I don't think I have to remind you that banning abortion will not cut down on abortions, but instead will cause women to either travel out of state to obtain abortions or turn to unsafe and illegal methods out of desperation.
I volunteer at a Planned Parenthood near my house as a clinic escort. Basically I have to stand outside and watch the protesters to make sure that they don't break any laws. They are nasty people who yell obscenities at the patients entering the clinic, calling them murderers, or targeting them if they are visibly black or latina with sayings such as, "You know they kill black/Spanish babies in there." They tell men who enter the clinic that, "Real men don't kill babies." They carry signs with pictures of dead babies on them, when in actuality, the fetus that is being aborted is much, much smaller. But if they represented the fetuses accurately I guess the women they harass wouldn't be as upset. They stand and stare at us and tell us we have no morals. And they are all old white men.
It really kills me.
Posts
July 13, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Parental consent laws usually don't cut down on the number of abortions...
Look at state tracking of abortion statistics, it usually results in a 5-7% drop...Planned Parenthood's research arm has great statistics.
I have visited a many Planned Parenthood clinincs and have found the protesters to be about 50-50 gender wise. I have not had any bad experiences with them.
I think the reason why protesters talk about how black babies are killed in the clinic is because blacks are 13% of the population yet have 35% of the abortions.
July 13, 2008 at 7:19 PM
No, anonymous, I'm sorry but you are incorrect. That is not why they yell about black babies. They do that to get to the black women. If someone is Latina, they yell that Spanish babies are being killed. If someone is clearly Jewish, they yell that this is the next Holocaust. They will say anything to anyone to get under their skin. Trust me. It's how they operate.
Maybe it's different in other clinics, but my experience has been that either the majority are men, or all of them are men. I guess at some clinics they are well behaved, some clinics they harass patients non-stop, and some clinics they plant bombs or shoot at doctors. It varies. These are just my experiences.
In response your comment about parental consent laws... I wonder how many of those 5-7% pregnant women are turning instead to illegal abortions because they are too terrified to get parental consent. Research has proven that countries with the most liberal reproductive rights laws (i.e. no parental consent required) are characterized by the lowest abortion rates.
July 13, 2008 at 8:11 PM
It frustrates me so much that these men, who will NEVER experience pregnancy and childbirth, feel they have the right to deny women control of their bodies.
Where is the logic there?
July 13, 2008 at 8:22 PM
It is true that it's mostly men that are anti-choice, but I also have seen many women. I think the real problem is religion, not gender. I'm nearly sure that most abortion protesters are Jesus freaks, and don't understand the concept of "separation of church and state".
I wish people would just take it this way - Don't like abortions? Don't have one.
July 13, 2008 at 10:31 PM
Unfortunately, Jen, abortion isn't the only issue that the "born-agains" feel they have the right to usurp the state. It's funny how they believe that they have the right to dictate to me who I can and can't love, even though I don't share in their religion.
July 14, 2008 at 12:06 PM
I wasn't implying that gender is the problem, I was just trying to point out the irony at the fact that the majority of anti-choice activists and political leaders (I think the number is around 70%) are men who will never experience childbirth themselves.
Yep, religion is always behind anti-choice values. When it comes down to it, pro-choice activists argue on the basis of science, and anti-choice activists back up their beliefs with religion. That's why our views clash so much: science vs. religion.