There is a bill before the Kansas legislature right now that would violate so many rights of women, I can't even begin to comprehend it.
The Kansas House has only 6 days to discuss this abhorrent legislation before it's brought to a vote.
The bill would do several things to completely violate any trust between women and their physicians. First, it would allow a doctor to LIE to a woman by not telling her about potential problems with the pregnancy such as birth defects, potential medical consequences for the mother and/or child in order to prevent the woman from choosing an abortion.
Then, on top of that, it exempts the doctor from any malpractice suits that might arise from blatantly lying to their patient. And if that baby happens to be born with 12 heads and no arms? Well, they're exempt from malpractice there, too. Only if the woman happened to die as a result, could a wrongful death suit be filed. Once again, the anti-choicers are showing that female life is unimportant. We are only to be used as incubators. Period.
The bill also requires physicians to outright lie to their patients, by informing them of the (nonexistent) link between abortion and breast cancer.
It also includes a requirement that the mother hear the heartbeat, and prohibits any tax deductions for expenses related to out of pocket expenses for purchasing health insurance coverage that includes abortion.
Basically, it is the worst of the worst from all the anti-choice bills from around the country combined into a pretty little package with sugar on top.
From Sec 23 (2) (emphasis mine)
Printed materials that inform the pregnant woman of the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at two-week gestational increments from fertilization to full term, including pictures or drawings representing the development of an unborn child at two-week gestational increments, and any relevant information on the possibility of the unborn child's survival. Any such pictures or drawings shall contain the dimensions of the unborn child and shall be realistic. The material shall include the following statements: (A) That by no later than 20 weeks from fertilization, the unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain; (B) that there is evidence that by 20 weeks from fertilization unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner which in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain; and (C) that anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks from fertilization or older who undergo prenatal surgery.
The material shall also contain objective information describing the methods of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical risks commonly associated with each such procedure, including risk of premature birth in future pregnancies, risk of breast cancer, risks to the woman's reproductive health
The bill is also a personhood bill, basically eliminating terms such as zygote and fetus and replacing them with "unborn child".
From Sec 19:
(b)As used in article 19 of chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, a person also means an unborn child. (c)As used in this section, "unborn child" means a living individual organism of the species homo sapiens, in utero, at any stage of gestation from fertilization to birth
I am so disgusted by this horrendous and unconscionable legislation. It removes so many federal constitutional rights from women (when will we remember that the SCOTUS actually upheld the constitutional right of women to obtain both birth control AND to terminate a pregnancy), turning them strictly into incubators. (Which we already knew was how women are viewed by so many, anyway).
I again reiterate: My choice to have a baby or not has no bearing on your choice to have a baby or not. Period. End of statement. I completely support the rights of anyone to choose to have a baby rather than to terminate a pregnancy. I also support the right of anyone to choose to terminate a pregnancy for any reason, even if I personally don't support the reason for it. Example: I don't support pregnancy termination as a sole means of birth control. I believe that if we make birth control available to women and men (including minors), that the number of unwanted and unintentional pregnancies will decline. The statistics have borne this out. I also believe that educating minors and men and women about the potential risks of unprotected sex, including STDs, pregnancy, etc, will decrease the numbers of unwanted and unintentional pregnancies. The statistics also support this.
What I don't believe in, is someone (usually a man) who 1) believes that government has no role in an individual's life and 2) does not have to deal with any physical implications of MY pregnancy personally, and 3) who is NOT ME, telling me that I cannot choose what is best for my life, the life of my family, or the life of my child.
I refuse to go back to a day when women were forced to have back alley abortions and died by the thousands in order to have liberty over their own person and body. I refuse to go back to a day when women were 2nd class citizens, should be seen and not heard, and should only exist to be a receptacle for their husband's penis (at a time and place of his choosing, regardless of if the woman's receptacle door was open or not), a time when women were relegated to roles of nurse, teacher, and secretary. Note: These are all very noble roles - IF they are the roles that a woman chooses.
And IF, despite my refusal, that is what is forced upon me against my will... if that is what is going to be legislated, then that legislation also damn well better make it economically viable, just like it was back in the day to which they'd like to return. Where a single income could support a family, pay the mortgage, send the children to college, and support a very nice retirement. Somehow, I don't see that in our future, so...
Dear Government, get the hell out of my uterus.
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