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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Right Not to Know (Read this. And then read it again the day before the election. Please.)
http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/the-right-not-to-knowThe painful decision to terminate a pregnancy is nowthanks to Texas' harsh new lawjust the beginning of the torment.
by Carolyn Jones
Halfway through my pregnancy, I learned that my baby was ill. Profoundly so. My doctor gave us the news kindly, but still, my husband and I werent prepared. Just a few minutes earlier, wed been smiling giddily at fellow expectant parents as we waited for the doctor to see us. In a sonography room smelling faintly of lemongrass, Id just had gel rubbed on my stomach, just seen blots on the screen become tiny hands. For a brief, exultant moment, wed seen our sona brother for our 2-year-old girl.
--snip--
My counselor said that the law required me to have another ultrasound that day, and that I was legally obligated to hear a doctor describe my baby. Id then have to wait 24 hours before coming back for the procedure. She said that I could either see the sonogram or listen to the babys heartbeat, adding weakly that this choice was mine.
I dont want to have to do this at all, I told her. Im doing this to prevent my babys suffering. I dont want another sonogram when Ive already had two today. I dont want to hear a description of the life Im about to end. Please, I said, I cant take any more pain. I confess that I dont know why I said that. I knew it was fait accompli. The counselor could no more change the government requirement than I could. Yet here was a superfluous layer of torment piled upon an already horrific day, and I wanted this woman to know it.
--snip--
Im so sorry that I have to do this, the doctor told us, but if I dont, I can lose my license. Before he could even start to describe our baby, I began to sob until I could barely breathe. Somewhere, a nurse cranked up the volume on a radio, allowing the inane pronouncements of a DJ to dull the doctors voice. Still, despite the noise, I heard him. His unwelcome words echoed off sterile walls while I, trapped on a bed, my feet in stirrups, twisted away from his voice.
Walk away
(9,494 posts)I think I re-post it on Facebook again and read it a few more times. Is this what my beloved nieces have to look forward to if they decide to stay in the US?
saras
(6,670 posts)Im so sorry that I have to do this, the doctor told us
He doesn't. All he has to do is not do it.
So he loses his job.
Big fucking deal. Waah.
It's better to become a serial rapist than lose your job? Fuck that. The guy deserves to be on the street, dying of perfectly treatable diseases that we refuse to treat him for. And his whole town needs to treat him like the rapist he is, and a whiny little twit of one at that.
The only thing even MORE pathetic and dishonest would be to meet this doctor out on some picket line, trying to get someone else to stop him from doing something he's not willing to stop himself from doing.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)You do realize that in many hostile areas there is a single Doctor willing to risk his life to perform abortions?
They want him to lose his license, to quit, that is an even more effective deterrent than pasing laws that the SC will strike down.
saras
(6,670 posts)Surely you're not suggesting that the right wing is suddenly going to STOP here - that this law is good enough to satisfy them?
Oilwellian
(12,647 posts)This was not a transvaginal ultrasound so calling this Planned Parenthood doctor a "serial rapist" is way over the top. You really should get your facts straight first.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)enlightenment
(8,830 posts)Though the clipped part of this is awful enough.
What have we become?
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Lone_Star_Dem
(28,158 posts)Hopefully they'll get it back up soon.
mahina
(17,809 posts)even the Texas Observer main page. Hope it's up soon.
I don't know what happened but it seems entirely plausible that somebody out there didn't want this message heard. Probably also hollering about Rush L being 'silenced' and the injustice of it all. Pure speculation.
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)DoS attack? Maybe.
mahina
(17,809 posts)@Maiab: Do you know why the site is down now?
@TexasObserver: There are many reasons. It's going back up now.
mahina
(17,809 posts)Kick in to the DU tip jar?
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