[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I"m speechless

Virginia House, Senate and Governor are all Republican. They are passing a law that requires a transvaginal ultrasound be done on every woman seeking an abortion. And her consent is not required. No exceptions. There is no medical reason to require that procedure be done. They would not even allow an amendment that asks the woman whether or not she consents to the medical procedure.

legally required rape by a health care provider......

I understand the new laws being proposed and enacted are designed by those pro-life people looking for ways to undermine a woman's right to an abortion. I understand their mind set is something along the lines of ....if only women saw the fetus as a living thing, they would change their minds. And an ultrasound, whether abdominal or transvaginal, is their feeble attempt to do this.

I also understand these idiotic requirements are meant to make the process more cumbersome and distasteful for both the woman seeking an abortion and the person providing the service.

The laws are meant and written to make an ultrasound as a required prerequisite for an abortion. They require not only the test but a visual and verbal description of the results. They require one to have the test in order to proceed with the procedure. If one doesnt consent to the requirements to have the procedure, the procedure, technically, would not be legally able to be performed.

I find it reprehensible for someone to use the law and the health care system to impose their morality and religious beliefs on another. It is one thing to have tests required prior to a procedure as a safety/precaution measure, and quite another to have them required as a morality check.

On the other hand, I also find it disturbing to see people call this "legal rape by a health care professional". It might be the word "rape" that is bothering me. Rape, to me, is a violent act of power. In this context, it brings up visions of women being tied down to gurneys while a transvaginal probe is being forcibly inserted into them. This vision stirs up the emotions but it is not what any law I have read says or implies.

To me, the laws have removed the woman's right to opt out of an ultrasound and the related explanations. It is saying, in order to do this procedure, this is what we are required to do by law. If you agree, we can proceed. If you do not, we cannot.

This is not the same as "legalizing rape by a health care professional". Nor is it the same as saying women do not have to consent. Doing any procedure for any reason without consent is assault and battery.

The Virginia law requires: a doctor to determine the gestational age and listen for a heartbeat. Not a heck of a lot of ways to do this and still be compliant with the law. The Virginia law also seeks to legislate a fertilized egg as a personhood with rights. Thats an entirely different matter.

As reprehensible as these laws may be, it is imperative, I think, to maintain a level head in the entire matter. These constant, repetitve legislative abuses to "legalize" their version of morality, whether it be in reproductive rights or gay marriage or anything else, are increasing at an alarming rate in the strangest of ways. It needs to be dealt with.

Do we have any info on what is being done to challenge these abuses of legislative power?