Pregnancy – Page 13

Palin’s anti-choice legacy

Via Feministing, a post by Clara Jeffery of Mother Jones tells us that one of Palin’s last acts in office was to accelerate a parental notice and consent law for women under 18 who are seeking abortion.

We see this shit all the time: my sisters’ rights to our own bodies are routinely taken away in the name of paternalistic “protection.” We saw it in the conservative media hoopla when the FDA approved over-the-counter access to emergency contraception for women 17 and older, as opposed to an earlier 18 and older policy (my favorite Mike Galanos quote: “With Plan B, they can do it now and deal with it later”). And we’re seeing it again with Palin. Nevermind that young women who don’t tell their parents about their abortion have damn good reasons for keeping quiet.

Before news of the resignation, Beverly Wooley and Jay Butler, two of Alaska’s public health experts, were essentially forced out of office for meddling in Palin’s anti-choice crusade.

Both [Wooley and Butler] made the critical mistake of wanting to present scientific evidence on the impact of parental consent laws to the state Senate. They never got the chance; the Senate “ran out of time.” From the Anchorage Daily News:

Wooley said she also intended to answer questions from legislators and said she would rely on data, not anyone’s personal beliefs. Whether she personally agreed with the governor is beside the point, Wooley said.

She intended to refer to studies from states that already had passed similar legislation, she said. Some of the research shows that, with parental involvement requirements, girls tend to get abortions later in their pregnancy, which is riskier and more expensive, she said. Other research shows fewer girls get abortions, which abortion foes like Palin likely would applaud. Wooley cautioned that the studies are small and not definitive because such laws are still fairly new.

…

That was enough to get her canned. And guess what? The next day, the very day that Palin resigned:

A proposal to require parental notice or consent before a female younger than 18 could have an abortion was certified Thursday by the state so that its backers can seek enough signatures to get the initiative before voters next year.

So, Sarah Palin may be gone soon. But her policies live on.

I’d just like to say: this is outrageous. Not only that Palin is so clearly shaming young women for having sex (how crazy is that? Women having sex?! News to me!); not only that she is firing staff for, in Clara Jeffery’s words, making the “critical mistake of wanting to present scientific evidence…to the state Senate” (I mean, I know Palin is scared of science, but come on!); but also that a young woman’s fundamental right to control her own body is being set aside in favor of abortion statistics.

Even if the stats show that requiring parental consent for teenagers’ abortions lowers rates — party at the Palin anti-choice mansion, anyone? I love me some barbecued moose — I still need the right to get the procedure without my parents knowing! Statistics and evidence are of course vitally important to crafting effective legislation, but reproductive rights and bodily integrity should not depend on whichever survey is being considered. They are fundamental.

Cross-posted at Women’s Glib.

Dr. Tiller’s Clinic Will Remain Closed

Oh god. This twists both my heart and my stomach up into tight, hard knots.

The family of slain abortion provider George Tiller said Tuesday that his Wichita clinic will be “permanently closed,” effective immediately.

In a statement released by Tiller’s attorneys, his family said it is ceasing operation of Women’s Health Care Services Inc. and any involvement by family members in any other similar clinic.

“We are proud of the service and courage shown by our husband and father and know that women’s health care needs have been met because of his dedication and service,” the family said.

This is awful. Just awful. I feel quite literally ill and nauseous at the moment.

I can’t blame Dr. Tiller’s family. I don’t blame his family. I understand that they have risked, and lost, far more than enough. No one could have ever blamed Dr. Tiller if he had decided, after the years of harassment and threats on his life, to give up practicing at his clinic. And so we certainly can’t blame his family now for shutting the clinic doors, once those threats were actually carried out. And I also hear what Dr. Hern, who provides the same type of late abortions that Dr. Tiller did, is saying. Who would want to work there? We can talk about principle all day long, but when it comes down to it — a man was murdered because he worked there. How many of us would be willing to take is place? Exceedingly few.

But that doesn’t change the loss, and that loss is huge. The nation has now not only lost one of its bravest, most compassionate abortion providers. It has also lost one of only three clinics that performed life-saving and therapeutic abortions this late. (Please note: dozens of clinics perform abortions that would be considered “late.” Dr. Tiller’s, however, was one of only three that provided abortions as late as they did.)

Woman Must Deny Rape or Face Death

You may have already read about Samantha Orobator, a British woman who was arrested on charges of smuggling heroin into Laos last August. If convicted, the sentence for her alleged crime is death by firing squad. On top of all of this, she is five months pregnant — which means that she became pregnant while incarcerated, in what is reportedly “one of Asia’s most squalid jails.” Her mother has stated that she’s worried her daughter may have been raped, but also has not been allowed contact with her daughter.

Obviously, Orobator’s mother’s concerns make a whole lot of sense — indeed, I have to wonder how she could have not been raped. She was in jail. The only males she is supposed to have contact with are the guards. And anyone who thinks that a person can give meaningful consent to someone who effectively acts as their captor seriously needs a remedial lesson in what exactly “meaningful consent” means.

Anyway, we last week we got the news that Orobator will not be executed due to the fact that she is pregnant. Obviously the fetus’ life is more important than the grown woman’s, as the fetus is “innocent” and the woman may or may not be guilty of committing a crime. There was also word of a possibility that she would be transferred to jail in the UK if convicted.

But now, outrageously, we get this:

A PREGNANT British woman arrested for heroin smuggling in Laos has been told she must testify she was not raped in prison in order to escape the firing squad.

Samantha Orobator, who is five months pregnant, was arrested last August at Wattay airport in the capital Vientiane for trying to smuggle 680g of heroin.

The Londoner was not pregnant at the time of her arrest.

The 20-year-old goes on trial this week and will be asked to declare publicly that she was not raped in Phonthong prison, one of Asia’s most squalid jails.

If Orobator co-operates, she will be transferred from Laos to a UK prison under a new treaty signed between the two countries on Thursday. If not, her trial will be postponed and she will return to jail in Laos.

If she faces trial again after the birth of her child, she will not have the immunity from execution that pregnancy gives her under the Laos penal code.

A Laotian Government spokesman, Kenthong Nuanthasing, said: “She will tell the court, otherwise she will stay here. Nobody can guarantee that she will not face the firing squad.”

So she can either deny that she was raped or be killed. And the Laotian government seems to have no issue whatsoever with being public with such information.

It is worth noting that Orobator has reportedly written a letter denying having been raped. We don’t know what might have coerced her into such a statement, and again I have huge difficulties imagining a scenario of consensual sex in her position — after all, the letter also reportedly said that she had not had sex. So barring access to artificial insemination in the jail, one of those two statements must be a lie.

But, let’s assume for one moment, for the sake of argument, that she told the truth on the count of rape. It’s hardly the point. The point, those who would wish to make it something else, is that when asked the question of whether or not she was raped, a woman should be able to give an honest answer, whatever it is. She shouldn’t be explicitly told that the price for just answering “yes” to that question is her life.

Then, even more ludicrously, there is this:

“We don’t want the world to blame us,” Mr Nuanthasing said.

Asked who fathered the baby, Mr Nuanthasing said: “It is a mystery – maybe it is a baby from the sky.”

Is that, like, supposed to be fucking cute or something? Whatever the meaning behind such a statement, it’s outrageous and shows what kind of ridiculously self-serving and misogynistic apologism/denialism Orobator is up against.

I wish her the best and hope that she does whatever she has to do to save her life. And I hope that no women is ever put in such a horrific position ever again.

via Hoyden About Town

Bristol Palin: Teen Pregnancy Warning Sign?

I love Cristina Page and think she’s brilliant — her book How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America is a must-read — but I’m not sure she gets in right in this article about how Bristol and Levi could be the teen pregnancy spokespeople we’ve all been waiting for. She writes about Bristol’s work for The Candie’s Foundation, which focuses on lowering the teen pregnancy rate, and argues that Bristol is an effective spokeswoman when it comes to the message that you don’t want to be a teen parent:

Dominican Republic Passes Complete Ban on Abortion

RH Reality Check clues us into the horrible news that the Dominican Republic has approved an amendment to the Constitution that outlaws all abortion. The amendment states that “the right to the life is inviolable from conception until death” — just not if you’re a woman who needs access to a safe medical procedure. Even if you’ve been raped. Even if your life is at risk.

The approval came despite the vocal outcry from feminists, doctors, the United Nations Program for Human Development, and the Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society:

In that regard, the Dominican Gynecology and Obstetrics Society Wednesday warned that the number of maternal deaths will increase considerably, with the approval of the article that bans the interruption of pregnancies.

The entity’s president, Aldrian Almonte, said the current figure of 160 deaths for each 100,000 live births per year will increase, because doctors would be reluctant to proceed from fear of being charged in cases where they must decide on the interruption of a pregnancy to preserve the mother’s life.

“Those deaths are product of the unsafe abortions. I would like of the honorable legislators to tell me what are we going to do before the presence of a woman with severe preeclampsia or eclampsia, convulsing in any emergency room around the country, what must we do, see her die to protect ourselves from the repercussions that article 30 stipulates?,” he said.

Again, the amendment also does not include exceptions for rape/incest, or life of the mother. Just as the influential Catholic Church would want it. Because, and this cannot be repeated enough, the lives of women don’t matter. At least not the lives of women “evil” enough to put themselves, their well-being, their health, above a pregnancy. The lives of embryos matter, the lives of women don’t.

I don’t know what else to say. This outrageous, it is horrific. It is going to cost the financial security, health, and lives of countless women. Women are going to die. Yes, it’s an awful thing to have to say, but it’s the truth, and for that reason needs to be said: women are going to die because of this.

Congratulations, “pro-life” groups. You’ve got yet more blood to wash of your misogynistic hands.

Via Jump off the Bridge

Support for paid parental leave

I was at my last job when I had my now 18-month-old, and yes, I had the nerve to complain that I only received six weeks paid maternity leave. Heh. They seem like glory days to me now. This fall, my little family and I are facing our own “poverty spell” when I go on maternity leave again in September*, as my current employer offers no paid maternity leave. Shoot, six weeks seems like a glorious dream. Make no mistake – I’m not blind to the fact that we’re more comfortable financially than a lot of people. But this only goes to my point – if we’re sweating, socking away every spare dollar, and I’m scrambling to figure out ways I can work through my leave – then damn, I can’t imagine the stress for other families.

So this is a little heartening to me: Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) has sponsored H.R. 626, the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act, which would provide federal employees with four weeks paid parental leave. (I know, four weeks ain’t much, but it’s something. Compared to the zero weeks I got coming, I’d take it.) Here’s more from Moms Rising:

Why would Paid Family Leave help families? Right now, having a baby is a leading cause of “poverty spells” in this country (times when income dips below what’s needed for basic living expenses like food and rent). Paid Family Leave helps families bridge the income gap caused by folks being unable to go to work because they have to care for a new baby or a sick parent or spouse. In fact, nearly half of working people report that an illness or injury in their family caused them to get behind on their bills, including mortgage payments. We need Paid Family Leave to help families stay out of poverty–especially in this time when so many families are already vulnerable.

Policies for Federal employees can lead the nation! With more than 2.7 million civilian employees, the federal government is the nation’s largest employer. Passing a standard of Paid Parental Leave for people who work for the nation’s largest employer is a benchmark toward Paid Family Leave for all workers. It’s time for the federal government to establish policies which support working families, and thus set an example for all other employers.

They note that in the U.S., 49% of mothers cobble together paid leave following childbirth by using sick days, vacation days, disability leave, and maternity leave. This is what I’ll be doing, combining vacation time, unpaid leave, and as much telecommuting as I can manage. You can make it work, but it isn’t really a great alternative to paid leave. Pediatrician appointments, unexpected sick days (the baby’s or the parent’s) – you’ve got to try and hang onto those paid days off if you can. And you can forget taking a sick day in those last few exhausting months of pregnancy. (Let me tell you about being nine months pregnant, in DC, in August. Whew. There aren’t enough kiddie pools or pints of frozen yogurt in the world to make that comfortable.)

But anyway. I could go on all day. Moms Rising has a petition. They’re urging Congress to pass H.R. 626, and I’m urging you to check it out.

*I hadn’t actually made it public yet, but there you go: I’m pregnant!

Catholic Church Excommunicates Mother and Doctors Over 9-Year-Old Rape Victim’s Abortion

In Brazil, there is a horrific story of a 9-year-old girl who was raped and impregnated (h/t Falloch’s comment). It’s believed that the rape was committed by her step-father. The girl was not only pregnant at that young age, but also pregnant with twins. And so, as makes perfect sense, she had an abortion. Because she was raped, because she was much to young to have a child, and because the stress of having twins would of course have been far too much for a 9-year-old’s body to handle. And she could have died.

Now, the Catholic Church has excommunicated both the girl’s mother and the doctors who performed the abortion, which likely saved the girl’s life.

Well then. At least they didn’t excommunicate the girl, right? Maybe they decided that she was much too young to have made the decision to have the abortion on her own, or to understand what was happening. But not too young, apparently, to be forced to give birth to the twins caused by her rapist. Not too young to quite possibly die in the process.

In defending the decision, the Church’s lawyer has said:

“It’s the law of God: Do not kill. We consider this murder,” Miranda said in comments reported by O Globo.

But rape, apparently, is a-okay. After all, I don’t see the step-father, who allegedly admitted to having raped the girl since the age of 6, being excommunicated. Killing a fetus is apparently worthy of such censure and shunning. Horrifically violating a small child, though? Well, we all make mistakes. And this stance is of course nothing new.

The lawyer also argued that the girl just should have carried to term and had a cesarean section. Because obviously a lawyer knows the girl’s condition better than her own doctor. And obviously the girl’s mental well-being doesn’t count for a damn thing.

Who knows what a cesarean section would have done for the girl, since the doctors didn’t present the issue of her giving vaginal birth as being the main health concern here. But oh well. God says. Clearly, if this child died in the course of fulfilling “God’s wishes,” it would have been a lesser tragedy than the cold-blooded murder of those innocent little fetuses. After all, in other extremist Catholic doctrine, a woman is better off dead than raped anyway.

RH Reality Check asks: Is this what religious objection to abortion looks like? Seeing as how the point of the entire anti-choice movement is indeed to erase any and all concern for the woman in question, in fact to erase her very existence if at all possible . . . clearly, yes. In an extreme nutshell, this is exactly what it looks like.

cross-posted at the Curvature

TMI?

Judging from the comments on this article at Salon, it’s gross to taste breast milk unless you’re a child under the age of two. But judging from my friends’ and my own experiences, it’s pretty common to have your intimates — and your own self — at least sample the goods when you’re lactating. Curiosity isn’t that outrageous.

Bill Cunningham: Democrats Think “a Woman’s Womb is a Tomb”

Via Media Matters, Bill Cunningham “discusses” the woman who gave birth to octuplets:

Okay, so . . . is it just me, or does Bill Cunningham’s argument essentially go like this:

Democrats support the right to abortion! Which I think is very, very wrong (and murder, and destroying some kind of sacred femininity or something)! So you should support forcing abortions — which I think are wrong! — on women who want to continue their pregnancies! Because I like my money a whole lot! More than I dislike killing babies! “Abortions of convenience” are wrong, unless it’s my personal convenience we’re talking about!

Or am I missing something? I know that I at least got the exclamation point part right. Oh, and did you catch the part where he referred to the woman’s babies as a “litter”?

This, to me, just further demonstrates that conservatives really, really do not understand the meaning of “pro-choice.” And probably never will.

Breaking: Obama Reverses the Global Gag Rule

It’s official. The gag rule is no more. (At least until our next anti-choice president, if legislative action isn’t also taken.)

International funding can now go to organizations that provide abortions with other funding, or simply offer counseling about abortion as an option from a different provider. Desperately poor women with high risk pregnancies won’t have to die because their doctor can’t tell them about termination options. Many will have more access to safe abortion care, and won’t die or face permanent injury due to risky do-it-yourself procedures. Women won’t have to get pregnant because their local birth control clinic had to choose between no funding or substandard, dishonest care, and subsequently closed down.

Yes, he’s a day late. And no, I haven’t quite forgiven him yet for his supposed reasoning on that. But mainly, I’m just letting out one of the biggest sighs of reliefs I’ve ever sighed.

This is what change can mean. Thousands of women’s lives saved. And after the past 8 years of this deadly policy, it’s about time.

For an objective look at what the Global Gag Rule entailed, check out this fact sheet from Reuters. For the pro-choice version, see Planned Parenthood.

Thanks to Colleen for the link to the confirmation I’ve been waiting for all day!