WTF, Texas?
Mar. 22nd, 2012 09:11 pmI don't post about work or political topics much on this blog. This is my happy creative place and I prefer it that way. I'm also a Brit, so thankfully none of the following applies to me. I am so glad.
The Texas Observer article 'The Right to Not Know' and John Scalzi's guest blog article 'A Doctor on Transvaginal Ultrasounds' have gone viral by now, so you've probably heard of them. For those who haven't, the government of Texas now legally requires every women before abortion to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound exam, with a 24 hour waiting period and a description of the fetus, together with an audio broadcast of the fetal heartbeat or viewing of the sonogram image, regardless of the physician's opinion or the patient's consent.
WTF, Texas? This is some seriously Handmaid's Tale shite right here. These regulations won't prevent women from having abortions, but they are cruel and dehumanising. All this is going to do is add to these women's already considerable sense of guilt.
Full disclosure: I'm female, pro-choice, atheist, and have never had an abortion myself. I do work in a medical field, which made some of the 'doctors are only in it for themselves' comments particularly annoying. Right, assholes. That's why we work twelve hour days, get up in the middle of the night to attend to emergencies, spend a significant amount of our own time and money furthering our training and expertise, and deal with upset clients and distressing situations (not to mention the blood) every day. For the freaking money.
Assholes.
The Texas Observer article 'The Right to Not Know' and John Scalzi's guest blog article 'A Doctor on Transvaginal Ultrasounds' have gone viral by now, so you've probably heard of them. For those who haven't, the government of Texas now legally requires every women before abortion to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound exam, with a 24 hour waiting period and a description of the fetus, together with an audio broadcast of the fetal heartbeat or viewing of the sonogram image, regardless of the physician's opinion or the patient's consent.
WTF, Texas? This is some seriously Handmaid's Tale shite right here. These regulations won't prevent women from having abortions, but they are cruel and dehumanising. All this is going to do is add to these women's already considerable sense of guilt.
Full disclosure: I'm female, pro-choice, atheist, and have never had an abortion myself. I do work in a medical field, which made some of the 'doctors are only in it for themselves' comments particularly annoying. Right, assholes. That's why we work twelve hour days, get up in the middle of the night to attend to emergencies, spend a significant amount of our own time and money furthering our training and expertise, and deal with upset clients and distressing situations (not to mention the blood) every day. For the freaking money.
Assholes.