Not satisfied with taking away birth control from women, the Republicans—the ones who want small government—want to penetrate women. In their vaginas. The Virginia House has passed a bill, 63-36, that will force women to endure a “transvaginal ultrasound” before having a legal abortion. No exceptions for rape or incest. No exceptions if the woman’s medical provider believes that this procedure is a bad idea. No exceptions. House member Todd Gilbert referred to abortion as a matter of “lifestyle convenience.”
Virginia was one of the first states that sued against “ObamaCare” using the argument that government cannot force people to purchase health insurance. Yet this is the same state that will force women having a legal procedure to be penetrated without their consent, the state that will dictate medical procedures. This is the state that refuses to require young women to have a vaccination against HPV because the conservatives stated the state has no business mandating a vaccine against a virus that can cause cervical cancer.
The bill now goes to the Senate which plans to pass it. Gov. Bob McDonnell has said that he will sign it. Remember that name because he is on the short list for vice-president of the United States.
Virginia is also on the verge of passing a personhood law, declaring that human rights begin from the instant that a sperm hits the egg. That bill passed the house, 66-32. This is the same bill that people in Mississippi rejected, the bill that could make birth control illegal. In the Virginia senate, Bill Stanley won passage of a measure that would permit wrongful death civil lawsuits against those who kill a fetus.
Sonograms show fetal images, but Virginia insists on literally penetrating women’s vaginas. That’s how little the conservatives in that state think of women. If this passes, other conservatively-controlled states will surely follow Virginia’s example, and a conservative Congress and president could follow suit. Vote in the next election against people who are willing to abuse women in this way. And tell everyone you know to vote against these people.
Nel's New Day 
This is deeply concerning! Unfortunately it is only one of so many brutal and socially distructive assaults that have been made by conservative interests on women in particular and the culture in general. It has been shameful the lengths to which these forces have gone during these past years to subvert nearly every positive effort to improve circumstances for the general population and women in particular.. I’m really not surprised, but I am disgusted.
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Comment by Judith Burros — February 16, 2012 @ 8:20 AM |
This IS rape.
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Comment by lynchly — February 14, 2012 @ 8:26 PM |
Why stop at making it a person even earlier. Declare that every sperm and every egg is a person. Oh, wait, that would mean MEN would be affected and that’s just not right, is it? I mean if men were hit with this, they could be arrested for masturbating. Maybe their bedrooms should be equipped with cameras so if they have night emissions they can be penalized for killing all those ‘persons’.
Does that sound ridiculous? Of course it is. But so is calling a couple of cells in a woman’s womb a person.
At the same time, I am getting really pissed off that women aren’t coming together on this. Women are the majority in this country. If men who think like this are being elected, then I ask you, where are the women voters? Throw them out. If women stay away from the polls later this year, then they have nobody to blame for their rights being stripped from them. Wake up, ladies. Stop letting men control your lives.
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Comment by gkparker — February 14, 2012 @ 8:25 PM |