Governing the Womb

[Madspirit]

Governing the Womb
Posted on Apr 19, 2007
By Ellen Goodman

BOSTON—May I remind you what else was happening on the very day in 2003 when Congress passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban. In Florida, the Legislature passed a law that gave politicians the power to override Terri Schiavo’s wishes and have her feeding tube reinserted.

Up and down the East Coast, under two Bush administrations—George and Jeb—politicians were playing doctor and God and patient, trumping both medical opinion and individual rights.

May I also remind you of the day President Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban into law. The photo op had him surrounded by an all-male chorus line of legislators. These men were proudly governing something they never had: a womb.

What a long and wounding debate this has been. The moment this procedure was dubbed “partial-birth abortion,” pro-lifers won the PR war. They took women out of the picture, literally. The line drawings that illustrated congressional hearings often showed a headless woman bearing a perfect, healthy baby of six months’ or more gestation.

Their words not only described a procedure that was indeed gruesome, they portrayed these invisible women as amoral—women who choose abortion to fit into a prom dress.

When President Clinton vetoed the ban, he surrounded himself with women who had been through pregnancies that came with an awful vocabulary: words such as hydrocephalus and polyhydramnios. Those women and their “prom dates”—obstetricians and gynecologists—asked for only one exception to the ban. They wanted an exception for serious health risks.

Indeed in 2000, the Supreme Court struck down a Nebraska law by 5-4 because it didn’t have such a health exception. The court called it an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to abortion. Nevertheless, in 2003, with the boldness of a party that controlled two branches of government and was making a bid for the third, Congress passed the law directly confronting that ruling.

Now women are again among the “disappeared.” On Wednesday, a new Supreme Court upheld the ban, also by 5-4, proving what a difference the turnover in a justice or two can make.


We aren't supposed to re-post entire articles. To continue:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/governing_the_womb/

[Madspirit]

1. self-kick

[Coexist]

2. I am so tired of women being portrayed as not having the sense to make

and informed decision for themselves.

[Cerridwen]

3. I'm not worried...

I've been assured by my political allies that they'll "never overturn Roe." Or, as I like to put it, "they'll never overturn Roe - they'll just chip away at it chunks at a time until it becomes moot." See, no need to filibuster - just keep on keeping that powder dry.

:nuke:

[Cerridwen]

4. I really don't mean to kill the thread....geez. Guess I'd better

:kick: it.

Sorry, Madspirit, guess I'm poison to threads today. :(

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. Political pandering at it's worst passed this law. K&R

It falls flat on the notion that "amoral" women are going to undergo the pleasures of pregnancy, (morning sickness, backaches, hemorrhoids, etc) for 6-9 months and then "for the sake of convenience" are going to risk their lives in a medical procedure.

Yet, the politicians, so devoted to the "welfare of the people", fall happily in line to pander to the religious zealots whose votes, and money, they want. Rather than protect the rights, and lives, of women that they are sworn to uphold.

[Madspirit]

6. Women are Irrelevant

All that matters is the men's ludicrous emotional, sentimental and romantic notions of what being pregnant means.
Lee

[Morgana LaFey]

7. Yes, but there's more to it than thaT

It's about controlling women -- esp. their sexuality -- and PUNISHING them for it.

Men (as a class -- not all men, but certainly the men who got patriarchy off to such a great start AND who dig in their heels and keep it perking along) fear and loathe the fact that women can bleed and not die, can give life, and our innate spiritual power. (People here don't like me mentioning that one.) Admittedly, modern men have gotten over the bleed-and-not-die part, but they're still heir (if only thru the collective unconscious) to the rest.

The hatred and jealousy over our sexuality is among the easiest to see, I think.

[Madspirit]

10. I LOVE the way you think...n/t

[femrap]

8. If we were to borrow a tactic from the

anti-choice crowd, we would be demanding a law that forces ob/gyns to inform all of their pregnant patients of what will happen to them if a late-term problem occurs such as hydrocephalus. The patients need to be informed that the procedure that is best for their health is no longer available because 5 Catholic men said so. These 5 Catholic men don't care if you live or die. PERIOD.

Imagine if that were so....imagine the number of women who'd be calling their Senators and representative.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the only procedure available now the one of 'dismembering' the fetus....which is so much worse for the women.

Even during that recent Democratic debate, the candidates (esp. Obama) had an excellent opportunity to explain exactly why late-term abortions are required...BUT HE DIDN'T. To be honest, I was sickened by his omission....The fact that the women having this procedure very much wanted to give birth to a healthy child. Don't people realize that not all fetuses develop normally???? They can be struck with horrid maladies. GRRRRRRRRRRR.

[Crowdance]

9. Decision may have effect of lifting abortion rates.

Now any woman who discovers she's pregnant had better decide very early on if she's prepared to carry on a pregnancy no matter the risk to her health. If I found myself pregnant today, I'd have to carefully consider whether I am willing and able to risk my health to support a fetus--no matter what. Right now I support a family of five with three jobs. I reckon my decision would be to not risk my family by carrying a pregnancy to term.

I believe the anti-choice crowd will, sooner rather than later, suffer the curse of finally seeing the true fruits of their labors.

[Madspirit]

11. ...and yet

They never give a shit about the poor babies once they are born. The same people who are anti-choice are also anti social programs. Go figure.
Lee

[Triana]

12. Exactly - they're pro birth -- NOT pro-life

A further testament to the fact that the entire debate is about CONTROL not, "morality". It's about keeping women choiceless, subjugate, and powerless - even over their own lives and bodies - like ANIMALS - or something else less than human.