LOOK. LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE DOING. (Law, pt. 1)

I find it perfectly fitting that we're reading the chapter on Reproductive Rights and healthcare right now when the stuff is hitting the fan in politics over women's reproductive rights.

Texas legislature passed a bill last year that amended the "Women's Right to Know Act" and it was signed by Rick Perry in May 2011.  I was just leaving the state when this happened, glad to get the hell away from that man. The bill also, "altered the process through which physicians obtain informed consent to perform abortions in the state. Physicians can lose their licenses for violating the provisions, which place several requirements on the doctors, such as making them conduct a sonogram and provide the patient with images and sounds of the fetus" (Courthouse News Service, Feb. 8, 2012). So basically it is mandatory that a woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy hear a heartbeat and look at a sonogram. If the patient declines to look, the doctor must give her oral description of the image. This must happen at least 24 hours prior to the procedure. A health service provider in San Antonio filed a federal class action against the bill, calling it unconstitutional. A couple of weeks ago, a federal judge ruled in favor of Texas' responsive appeal, saying that the bill is NOT unconstitutional [as pertaining to women's reproductive rights] and will be enforced. He said that it was not about reproductive rights but more about doctors' rights to practice medicine. I'll add that it's a TRANSVAGINAL sonogram. Definitely sounds like a doctor problem and not a patient problem to me...? I'm so disturbed and disgusted by this that I wanted to vomit when I read article after article, trying to find clarity in the legal jargon. I used to live there - I very easily still could. I know women who have had abortions in that state. A decent number of them, actually. I know women who were traumatized by the decision they had to make and didn't handle it well afterward. I know women who would probably have attempted/committed suicide if this bill had been in effect when they had their procedures done. If not, then they would probably have a child right now because they didn't get the procedure done at all, which I think is the point. So, way to go, Texas - don't just take away women's mental health over the abortion they're seeking, let's physically assault them, too!

This entry is getting too long to continue with the next Southern State travesty that I wanted to rant about. To be continued...