Deborah's Journal

In yet another of his wonderful "Link Salads", jaylake linked to an article about Rick Perry's draconian anti-choice agenda, more properly termed forced pregnancy. I'm deeply disturbed by the tactics of regarding every conception as viable (which is medical nonsense) and as having "rights" that take precedence over those of the woman. There's even a move to criminalize women who have miscarriages.

Sometimes, a miscarriage (we should say, "spontaneous abortion") comes as a relief. Indeed, many occur before the woman realizes she is pregnant; her period is just "late." The better we get at the detection of early pregnancy, the higher we place the percentage of spontaneous abortions. The rate may be as high as 75% (including fertilized ova that fail to implant); the current statistic for clinically demonstrated pregnancies is about 25%. One in four. This does not include life-threatening, nonviable pregnancies like ectopic pregnancies, or fetuses with conditions incompatible with life (anencephaly) or situations in which the products of conception do not give rise to a fetus (teratoma).

But a miscarriage can also carry all the grief of the loss of a child; not one who has been born and held, but one that is just as real in the hearts and hopes of the parents. I lost four pregnancies between my two children. The issue is painful and complex and deeply personal. It is unspeakably cruel -- not to mention scientifically idiotic -- to imply that a woman is in any way responsible for the loss of a pregnancy, wanted or otherwise.

I've said this before. I understand that the issue is not about "protecting life" but about depriving women of agency. Most -- although not all -- of the anti-choice/forced pregnancy mob are also opposed to sex education and effective contraception, and oppose any laws to restrict gun ownership... and support capital punishment.

This time the issue dovetails with a case I learned about in my (new) advocacy for abolishing the death penalty. How would you feel if your child died in a fire, and then you were charged with homicide...and faced the death penalty? It's heart-breakingly tragic to lose a child, but then to be wrongfully accused of it is horrible beyond belief. This happened to Cameron Todd Williams, who was executed in Texas for the murder of his three children, even though experts now agree that the fire was an accident and he was innocent.

Are we so intimidated by grief that we must constantly rush to assign blame? Why do we buy into the idea that the only way to deal with tragedy is to punish someone, responsible or not?

Web MD reports a study that shows a woman's blood cholesterol changes with her ovulatory cycle. If your doc has urged you to begin medication for high cholesterol, you might want to be re-tested. Source was The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.