I’m against this law of course, but I think it will cause a few women to change their minds. No, an early ultrasound doesn’t look like anything, but neither does a heartbeat sound like anything that special, and a lot of parents still think it’s all magical to hear (I never did, and always felt like the odd one out for that, but I never had an early ultrasound to not tear up over). I realize it’s a different situation with a wanted pregnancy, but some people are just sentimental about that kind of thing.
Besides, the majority of abortions are performed in the blob stage, yes, but not all. A woman who sees an early second trimester ultrasound probably has a decent chance of changing her mind.
Again, I am against this law. But I see no point in pretending that every woman who has an abortion made a well informed decision. Some do, some don’t.
The answer to the OP is obvious: due to Roe V. Wade abortion is largely unrestricted at least for the first trimaster in this country and as a result the only way for pro-lifers to combat abortion and prevent even one more abortion is through bureaucratic maneuvering like this. And if pro-lifers do believe abortion is murder than such laws are very much needeed.
I don’t support the war on drugs and believe gay marriage should be left up to the states. And how many conservatives are up and arms over car insurance requirments. I’m not sure about state mandates and their constitutionality but most conservative do believe national mandates are unconstitutional.
That’s great. It means you’re not a standard GOP voter.
Sure, they do now that Barack Obama supported them. But conservatives invented them, and some conservatives championed them for a decade without it being obviously a right-left issue.
Again, there are principled reasons to oppose the mandate. I don’t see those principles in practical operation in most of the GOP base.
Oh shut the fuck up, you ignorant, obnoxious, pathetic, twerp. You know absolutely nothing about life, let alone pregnancy or childbearing. No one cares what you and your cohort of idiots thinks about subjects like this. You’re like someone blind from birth trying to get the color red banned. No woman on the planet owes you an explaination for her reproductive choices let alone the right to legislate about them.
Anybody who has spent any time on the issue knows that the way to change it is to amend the constitution. But they don’t seem to attempt to amend the constitution, but rather pass laws that will be struck down or cause the sort of obnoxious interference that the OP complains of.
One clinic in Texas has been following this law since either October or November (reported in today’s Fort Worth Star Telegram, I read it in a deli so I don’t have it handy). Despite following the law, not ONE woman has changed her mind about having an abortion after seeing the sonogram and hearing the heartbeat.
The law hasn’t prevented even a single abortion in this clinic over a period of half a year. The ONLY thing this law has done has made abortion a little more unpleasant and expensive for women. So please, either show that someone, somewhere, changed her mind about an abortion after jumping through the hoops, or quit pretending that this is about anything other than making a woman jump through hoops.
No one on this planet should have the right to force women to take the risks that can come with pregnancy. For G-d’s sake, especially while also barring them from coverage for the most effective form of birth control that exists.
High blood pressure
Hypothyroidism
Cholestasis of Pregnancy (a common liver disease that only happens in pregnancy)
Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Hysterectomy
Molar Pregnancy
Placenta Accreta
Toxoplasmosis
Listeria (pregnant women are 20 times more likely to become infected than non-pregnant healthy adults)
Pelvic floor disorder
HELLP Syndrome (Hemolysis (breakdown of red blood cells), Elevated liver enzymes, Low platelets counts (platelets help the blood clot))
Hyperemesis gravidarum
Temporary and permanent injury to back
Dropped (prolapsed) uterus
Pre-eclampsia
Eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
Gestational diabetes
Placenta previa
Anemia
Thrombocytopenic purpura
Embolism (blood clots - can lead to death - put my cousin in a coma, caused life-long disabilities and killed her full-term baby)
Diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
Mitral valve stenosis
Ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
Broken bones (ribcage, “tail bone”)
Hemorrhage
Severe post-partum depression and psychosis
Coronary and cardiovascular disease
Magnesium toxicity
Severe hypoxemia/acidosis
Increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
Malignant Arrhythmia
Circulatory collapse
Placental abruption
Obstetric fistula
Miscarriage Future infertility
Permanent disability
Heart attack
Stroke
Death
Seriously, who in the hell do these people think they are?
Is a fetus a person? Science fiction is full of robots who are non-human persons: they possess consciousness. A three month fetus certainly has human DNA, but it is utterly lacking in brain waves, consciousness and therefore personhood.
Pre-empt the potential argument
If carried to term a healthy fetus will grow into a conscious human. So a three month fetus has the potential to become a person. Once it gains speech, it could certainly be said to have an interest in not being aborted earlier, just as it has an interest in having its father home on the evening of its conception rather than traveling on business. But to say that there’s a vital interest in having Dad stay at home all evenings would be absurd.
My home state (which I’m trying to leave) is one of the ones trying to do this. I’m absolutely convinced half the legislators thing Transvaginal is where Dracula was from and are screening for unborn vampires.
Then there’s Terry England, the Georgia legislator who I’d pit if I weren’t so tired tonight. He not only favors this but believes that all women who are pregnant with fetuses that are either already dead OR that will not live to term should still have to carry them to term because, after all, he grew up on a farm and cows and hogs do this all the time, though it brings a then it happens (ear to his eye when it happens (he actually said that). He also said it was hypocritical to outlaw fighting cocks while women are still able to have abortions (or words to that effect).
Actually things like this DO happen, at least at birth. When there’s a case where said twins will die if not separated, but only one can live, they’ll still do it, even if it means the death of one of the twins. And yes, that even will include deciding which one has a better chance of survival. Sacrificing one’s life for another.
It’s a heartbreaking issue…but sometimes, it happens.
Get your stinking laws OUT of my uterus, thankyouverymuch!
I still can’t get over the Kansas law that would require doctors to LIE to their patients and tell them that abortion causes breast cancer when all the studies clearly show that this is false.
And GOD DAMN the Los Angeles Times for re-running some stupid series with Geoff Redfern and Zipper Harris lunching in the Student Union at Walden, instead of this. Just FUCK you guys, okay?