More on the whackadoodle MO abortion bill that would LITERALLY kill pregnant people.

[ShazzieB]

In case you haven't heard, a Missouri state representative 9has evidently lost his damned mind and is trying to pass an antiabortion bill that would absolutely for sure result in the deaths of people who are unlucky enough to have an ectopic pregnancy in that state.

On Thursday, Missouri state representative Brian Seitz introduced HB 2810, a bill that would make it a class A felony if “a person or entity…imports, exports, distributes, delivers, manufactures, produces, prescribes, administers, or dispenses,” or attempts to do any of the above, in the context of (1) an abortion that “was performed or induced or was attempted…on a woman carrying an unborn child of more than ten weeks gestational age” or (2) an abortion that “was performed or induced or was attempted…on a woman who has an ectopic pregnancy.” (In Missouri, a class A felony conviction carries a minimum 10-year sentence and can go up to 30 years or life in prison.)

The first situation, which would effectively make abortions after 10 weeks illegal, is completely sickening but par for the Republican course. The second, though, is uniquely fucked up. For those who are unaware, an ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside of the main part of the uterus. These types of pregnancies are not viable, and will never result in the birth of a child—ever. Meanwhile, if left untreated—i.e. if they are not terminated—they can kill the woman carrying the pregnancy; according to the International Journal of Women’s Health, they are the number one cause of death in the first trimester. So it’s pretty crucial people with ectopic pregnancies to receive abortion care, and when we say pretty crucial, we mean life and death—and if that’s not enough to make you say, “Okay, fine, I guess we’ll allow it,” recall that no baby is ever going to be born regardless.

If that's not crazy enough already, here's where it gets even worse (and this is the part that was new to me):

Unfortunately for the women of Missouri, Seitz apparently has no idea how modern medicine works. On Wednesday, he insisted that doctors don’t have a way of determining if a pregnancy is ectopic, and are just performing abortions for the hell of it. “They don’t have the hospital machinery to tell if this is an ectopic pregnancy,” Seitz falsely claimed. “They might just think it’s a normal pregnancy, and they want to abort that child. I would like to see that sort of unlawful activity stopped.” (This kind of ignorance is stunning, though, to be fair, we’d place it at a close second to the kind displayed by the Ohio legislators who thought you could “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy,” and that doctors who did not attempt this procedure, which does not exist, should face charges of “abortion murder.”) In a statement to Newsweek, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis region and southwest Missouri, said: “This is what it looks like when uneducated politicians try and legislate our bodies. Ectopic pregnancies, if not treated promptly, become life-threatening. Banning any provision of care related to ectopic pregnancies will put people’s lives at risk."

So this blithering idiot isn't just ignorant about the fact that ectopic pregnancies are 1) nonviable and 2) fatal if not terminated. He actually belies that doctors don't have any way of telling whether a pregnancy is ectopic and are just using ectopic pregnancies as excuses to randomly (?) perform abortions for...funsies? Or something?

Trying to make sense out of this nonsense is giving me a headache, so I will close here.

Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/03/brian-seitz-missouri-abortion-ectopic-pregnancy

[brer cat]

1. Willful ignorance and playing to their base.

[malthaussen]

2. One of the elements of misogynistic anti-abortion thinking...

... is that abortion is the result of "irresponsibility," or performed "irresponsibly." Now, these people like to think that they are the Party of Personal Responsibility (you may laugh, here), and it is really a terribly important moral question to them, so any irresponsible action -- like performing an abortion when you can't even tell if it is an ectopic pregnancy or not -- really infuriates them on a primal level.

Yeah, it's crazy. So are they. You can trace the crazy from the original false assumption, through varying links of compounding false assumptions, all the way to a conclusion that is, frankly, batshit crazy. And then marvel when they appear smug and self-righteous about it.

-- Mal

[Shrike47]

3. All this time I have been imagining it was some sort of typo or omitted word(s). He means it!

What an a-hole, may he rot. Ignorant jerk who hates women.

[stopdiggin]

4. The GOP is in a phase of awarding (and rewarding)

the proverbial 'boobie prize'. Extremism is promoted and cheered on - and politicians joust for the vaunted 'Steve Martin' "I'm a wild and crazy guy!" award.

It is truly a race to the bottom. ------- ----- ------

[milestogo]

5. Most men who have gone through a pregnancy with a partner

know exactly what an ectopic pregnancy is and how dangerous it is.

Men who know nothing about the female reproductive system should not have children, much less design laws to regulate it.

[SheltieLover]

7. Agreed, Miles!

[Ms. Toad]

6. I can attest that there is a pretty invasive ultrasound

Which can identify exactly where the fetus as implanted itself.

We suspected an ectopic pregnancy (it wasn't), but what we learned was that my daughter had implanted herself right near the cervix (which, later in the pregnancy) can lead to placenta abruptia. (Fortunatey, she migrated upward during pregnancy.)

It would probaby be possible to simulate that exam looking for the prostate . . . if he really wants to kow how well the technology works.

[SheltieLover]

8. Kicking for visibility

[OMGWTF]

9. Hey Brian, if you cut off my reproductive rights can I cut off yours?

[Farmer-Rick]

10. What is the matter with Missouri?

Sounds like they really, really, really, really, hate women.

I

[Mr.Bill]

11. They introduce bills like this during election years

so they can call anyone who votes against it a baby killer in their campaign ads.

[Initech]

12. They're going full Nazi on the abortion issue.

And that will not end well!