WARNING: Political rant

[deborahjross]

I'm usually soft-spoken about politics, although anyone who knows me well must surely recognize I do indeed have opinions. Rather emphatic ones. But this calls for comment.

The Utah legislature has passed a bill criminalizing pregnant women who have miscarriages. The bill was aimed at punishing women who seek illegal abortions, but that's not what it says. Any pregnant woman who engages in "reckless" behavior and then loses her pregnancy can now be charged with homicide.

First of all, this is medical nonsense. Somewhere around 30% of all conceptions spontaneously abort. (We used to think the figure was lower because many of these terminate so early, they don't cause a missed menstrual period, but modern testing has revealed a higher percentage.) Sometimes, we can determine a cause, but most of the time, we can't. This bill opens the door to prosecuting any woman who behaves in a way some prosecutor (or husband or parents or the Bible-thumping lady next door) disapprove of. Again, that's not what it was intended to do but it's what it says. And that means someone some time is going to use it that way.

Notice I say "pregnancy," not "fetus" or "baby." That's because many of these early spontaneous abortions (which is the proper medical terminology for miscarriage) are not and can never become a baby. Something goes wrong, either with the ovum or sperm, or in the early stages of cell division, rendering them inviable.

Who gets to define "reckless behavior"? Does it include running on the beach? Sky-diving? Smoking? Having sex? Having an orgasm without intercourse? Doing inverted yoga postures? Talking on a cellphone? Drinking alcohol? Driving on a freeway? Remaining with an abusive spouse? (The Utah Democrats tried to put in an exception for the last, but the bill passed unchanged to the governor's desk.)

Most women who know they are pregnant and then miscarry experience a tremendous sense of loss. I know. I had four miscarriages in a row. I grieved for each one. I agonized over whether I could have prevented them. It's unbelievably insensitive -- brutal -- for some government to say I caused it. That's something I think every woman who's had a miscarriage wonders and the answer is NO YOU DID NOT. So now Utah proposes to prosecute women for something they DID NOT DO.

I hold out small hope that Gov. Gary Herbert will have the common sense to refuse to sign it.

Comments

[meirwen.livejournal.com]

*speechless*

[beth-bernobich.livejournal.com]

Same here. Speechless with anger.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I got un-speechless. It takes a lot, and this qualifies.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

This is one of those issues that eats people's brains and they end up shouting at one another and passing laws like this, losing sight of the goal of making every pregnancy a welcome one and every family able to care for its newest member.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

So if a woman is hit by her abusive spouse and miscarries, she could be prosecuted for remaining with him when she knew the risks, but he, presumably, would not be prosecutable because he has the right to hit her . . . oh, never mind.

A very sad day.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

There is definitely an undercurrent of misogyny in attitudes and legislation like this. The "causes" are all tricked out in flowery language to hide the agenda.

For some years now, I've been very leery of any legislation that might accord the rights of a person to the products of conception AND place those rights above those of an actual, living, autonomous woman.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That's appalling. I hope the governor does the right.

[lingster1.livejournal.com]

I'm horrified by this. I lost my first pregnancy one summer in England, and was for a long time sure I'd caused it by riding in the back seat of my parents' rattly old Ford over bumpy English roads. It took a long time to get over the sadness and the feelings of guilt. This legislation is pure evil.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I want to throttle people who imply that there is any blame attributable to the woman. It's amazingly difficult to disrupt a healthy pregnancy, and almost impossible to preserve one that isn't going to make it.

I continued to train in kung fu through the 8th month of my first pregnancy, although I didn't take any falls after about 4 or 5 months. I knew women who practiced aikido right up until the end of their pregnancies. My doc said, "Just don't do anything to break your pelvis. You probably won't lose the baby even so, but it's miserable to be pregnant and be laid up that way."

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

The more things like this I hear about, the more it reminds me of Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.}:(

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

It does doesn't it? There's also a story -- a short story, I think, not sure who wrote it -- in which pregnant women are subject to 24/7 surveillance and imprisonment or forced medical intervention if they do anything that might negatively affect the fetus. Police state to the nth power, right here in River City...

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Have you seen this?

http://digitaljournal.com/article/287684

Iowa is ahead of the curve on that police state bit.}:/

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

That's pretty horrific. I wonder if she could sue for infringement of her First Amendment rights?

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

That's just disgusting. It reminds me of Romania under the Ceauşescu's.

What I don't understand is -- isn't this government interfering in people's private lives?

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

What puzzles me is the attitude that women cannot be trusted to make good decisions about their fertility, but who cares what happens to the baby or its mother afterward?

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

How horrible... there seems to be a bad 'let's blame women for everything' culture out there. :(

Am sorry to hear you had miscarriages. *hug*

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

[hugs] gratefully received. It was hard, but harder still when I went into premature labor with Rose at 18 weeks. With that history, I was so scared. Thanks to a very skilled OB/GYN and modern pharmaceuticals, we made it to 39 weeks, and she was 7 1/2 lbs at birth with great Apgar scores. She's almost 24 now!

I feel so strongly that our reproductive lives should never be made the tools of political or religious agendas. These things are so intense and so personal. In all the shouting, it's easy to forget that the goal is for every child to be wanted and cherished. You don't do that by ramming neoVictorian morality or power play legislation down people's throats. You do it by education, separation of church and state, frank and open discussion, acceptance of healthy sexuality, access to effective contraception, and empowerment of women. IMHO, of course.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I'm absolutely with you on this, and beyond appalled at Utah.

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

I'm certainly glad you had assistance when it came to your daughter. :)

I can foresee a few women leaving Utah for somewhere more 'liberal' (i.e. no Big Brother monitoring their pregnancies in case of 'reckless activity').

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

I believe I had the best of both worlds with my pregnancy and delivery of Rose. Not only did I have vigilant and skillful care, with prompt intervention of the premature labor, but I was able to give birth in an Alternate Birthing Center within the hospital. It was a cheerful, comfortable room, and my older daughter, husband, and daughter's "second mommy" were all with me. Sarah was not-quite-7 and had attended her own "birthing class," which prepared her very well, plus she had a support person. We were all breathing together, and other than the doc checking on my progress from time to time, we were left alone.

The doc was just coming off his last shift when I arrived. He hadn't eaten so we gave him one of the tuna sandwiches we'd packed for the family. But I made him leave the room to eat it because of the smell.

"Mom," Sarah said afterwards, "when you were pushing, your face turned red and then it turned PURPLE!"

[imhilien.livejournal.com]

Your face turning red then purple... eep! I hope that didn't happen again...