I seem to have an endless capacity to be stunned and horrified at the way things are out there in our country for other women. In our country, let me repeat; not Pakistan, not India, but the U.S. of A.
I suppose I’m glad I have that capacity because the alternative is cynicism.
This heart-rending opinion piece by a lawyer and a sociologist has me sitting here in near despair. The only action I can take right now is this: Pregnant, and No Civil Rights – NYTimes.com. It begins:
WITH the success of Republicans in the midterm elections and the passage of Tennessee’s anti-abortion amendment, we can expect ongoing efforts to ban abortion and advance the “personhood” rights of fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses.
But it is not just those who support abortion rights who have reason to worry. Anti-abortion measures pose a risk to all pregnant women, including those who want to be pregnant.
Such laws are increasingly being used as the basis for arresting women who have no intention of ending a pregnancy and for preventing women from making their own decisions about how they will give birth.
How does this play out? Based on the belief that he had an obligation to give a fetus a chance for life, a judge in Washington, D.C., ordered a critically ill 27-year-old woman who was 26 weeks pregnant to undergo a cesarean section, which he understood might kill her. Neither the woman nor her baby survived.
In Iowa, a pregnant woman who fell down a flight of stairs was reported to the police after seeking help at a hospital. She was arrested for “attempted fetal homicide.”
And oh it goes on. More awful tales like those.
How does this happen here, in 2014, in our great democracy? I’d suggest it happens because far too many women vote for the politicians who think treating pregnant women like this is just hunky-dory.
Your shame, ladies.