For an Audio Version of this article click here:
Women’s rights activists across the nation lament as Idaho adopts new pro-life legislation after Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter signed Senate Bill 1243 into law. Now, Idahoan women who wish to terminate their pregnancies have that choice ripped from them by the fascists at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The state now demands they be bombarded with lewd images, shamed for their courageous decisions, and, in general, required to actually think about their choices.
Abortions are Legal – or are They?
Subsection (1) of this dastardly piece of oppression establishes that women still have the right to terminate their pregnancies, and that any physician may perform the procedure free from any risk of civil or criminal liability. But, as you might suspect given the use of very leading language in the preceding sentence, there is a catch. The pregnant patient must give her informed consent.
Of course, if the patient’s consent comes without her being duly informed, she will suffer no legal consequences. The doctor on the other hand, well, that’s another story entirely. Subsections (6) – (9) make that painfully clear. Any physician who would break free of the iron fist of Idaho can be liable for a civil penalty of $100 per month of non-compliance. So, what exactly is the information due? On to Subsection (2).
The Price for Reproductive Freedom
Even after making the brave choice to opt out of personal responsibility by ending an unwanted pregnancy, these poor women – victims of the patriarchy, really – can’t be simply left to their choice. They must first sit through the state propaganda program and learn about alternatives, such as adoption and parenthood, and the resource available should they acquiesce and back out of the abortion. Then, patients must hear the ghastly descriptions of the physical characteristics of the fetus they wish to do away with – there are even pictures!
Should any patient steel her resolve and stand firm through this, the physician will then try to scare her out of aborting. Before scheduling the procedure, she must hear exactly how it takes place, including any possible complications that might occur, leaving nothing to the imagination or the soft comforts of ignorance.
If all else fails, they are forced to endure the torture of both a sonogram and an ultrasound. The state even has the audacity to make these women choose their own torturer from a list of practitioners, who gladly provide their “services” free of charge. And as if that weren’t bad enough, the doctor must offer the patient the choice to see ultrasound images and to observe the child’s heartbeat – the very products of her torture!
Prolonging the Pain
Subsection (3) merely requires the state to maintain a website to make compliance with Subsection (2) even easier, but Subsections (4) and (5) set a minimum duration for the torture. No abortion is to be scheduled for any earlier than 24 hours after the “consultation.” It is not enough that pregnant women who choose to abort must endure such pain and humiliation, they must also stew on it for an entire day – just long enough for it to really set in and make them question their decisions, but not nearly long enough to recover.
Those monsters in the Idaho Senate and House – who passed this abomination 29-6 and 55-11, respectively – and the despot governor who signed it into law have ensured that no reproductive rights will be exercised under their rule without due punishment.
They won’t forbid it, but only after enduring their sick torture and then ruminating on it all day can a woman terminate her pregnancy. One day might not sound like much but to those wavering on a decision as critical as this… 24 hours may as well be an eternity. Just because you might regret the abortion tomorrow, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be allowed to rush into it today.
