Bad American

Today’s Contemporary Americana!

Hat tip to Big Ass Belle’s blog which you should also be reading if you’re not. She’s mad like I’m mad.

Is rape too fine a point here? I mean, if a woman wants an abortion the state of Oklahoma says it has a right to place a probe in her vagina to do an ultrasound and put a picture of the fetus in her face.

But hey, she has the ‘right’ to avert her eyes if she wishes.

From BAB’s post:

My sorry assed fucking state just passed one of the most regressive anti-abortion bills in the country. In order to freely determine what happens to her body once SB 1878 goes into effect in Oklahoma, any woman who has made the decision to terminate a pregnancy will have to undergo an ultrasound an hour before the procedure.

This is a trans-vaginal ultrasound, which requires a probe to be inserted into the vagina. This will be mandated by the state. Along with this physical violation, “medical personnel must then provide an explanation of the ultrasound. They also must display the ultrasound so the woman can view it, although she may avert her eyes.”

She. may. avert. her. eyes. Really? Doesn’t the state fucking own her goddamned eyes too??? I have written about abortion before and I know from my own experience that it is a rare woman who makes that decision lightly.

Lynette (who is BAB) pointed out the the Democratic governor vetoed the bill because it didn’t have exceptions for rape/incest victims. But only for that apparently. The veto was overridden by Fascist Party members with the help of many spineless Democrats who would rather be in office than stand up for decency.

I suspect that one day Oklahoma will pass a law that outlaws abortion and dares a splintered and weakened Federal government to do anything about it. Then they will require that all pregnant women check in to local government officials to make sure they carry to term. Or have them followed around by men toting shotguns.

But there are a few more things about the bill covered by Dr. Dana Stone in Huffpo:

1) The bill dictates how doctors obtain informed consent in a way that does not conform to medically-accepted practice. Current state law already requires the doctor to refer patients to information about development of an embryo or fetus twenty-four hours before a pregnancy termination. The website is one required resource. She must also be notified about facilities that will offer her a free ultrasound.

2) This compels a physician to perform an invasive, vaginal procedure — not for the benefit of the patient, and possibly against her wishes — before the requested medical procedure can be done.

3) The fines for failure to follow the requirements begin at $10,000 go up to $100,000 or more for subsequent violations. The highest fines for negligent homicide or driving under the influence in Oklahoma are $1,000.

4) The bill defines “unprofessional conduct” if a physician does not perform this unnecessary procedure and suggests that the medical board may remove the physician’s license. This violates the standard medical practice that any patient has the right to refuse medical procedures or treatment.

This bill dictates how a doctor obtains informed consent, violates the patient’s right to refuse unwanted medical interventions, and places disproportionate punishments on physicians who do not comply.

Pro-choice and pro-life advocates alike should be appalled by this level of government intrusion. I hope that national attention to this outlandish regulation might encourage a veto by our Governor. Women’s advocates in other states need to watch for similar attempts by their own legislatures.

More here from the Associated Press on the override:

The Senate, which is split with 24 Democrats and 24 Republicans, voted 37-11 for the override. The House, where Republicans have a 57-44 edge, voted to override by a margin of 81-15. The votes came with little discussion in either legislative body.

It is the first time Henry has been overridden in his two terms as governor. In fact, it was the first time a bill has been overridden since Democrat David Walters was governor in the early 1990s. His successor, Republican Frank Keating, was not overridden in eight years.

Henry said he knew it would be an uphill battle to sustain the veto, “but I thought it was important to fight to protect rape and incest victims from additional distress.

“I do not think it is morally responsible for the state to victimize those victims for a second time by forcing them to undergo an ultrasound and hear a detailed description of it after they have made the difficult and heart-wrenching decision to end their pregnancy,” he said.

(but for other women who haven’t been raped, who gives a crap - they’re just selfish hussies, right Gov?)

Henry called the requirement “government regulation gone wrong.”

The original anti-abortion bill passed the Senate 38-10 and the House 80-12.

Before the Senate override vote, Lamb, R-Edmond, reminded his colleagues of their strong vote for the bill earlier.

“This is a bipartisan bill,” he said.

The bill expands on a measure enacted in 2006 that gave women the option of requesting an ultrasound before an abortion. Henry signed that measure.

Last year, Henry vetoed a bill that banned use of taxpayer funds for abortions because it did not exempt victims of rape and incest. He let the bill become law without his signature after it was amended to remove rape and incest victims.

Rep. Pam Peterson, R-Tulsa, moved quickly for an override vote on the latest anti-abortion bill after the Senate voted first.

Besides requiring an ultrasound examination, the bill allows doctors and other health care providers to refuse to take part in an abortion for moral and religious reasons.

It requires a woman to sign a consent form before having an abortion and mandates that federal guidelines be followed in the use of the chemical pill RU-486.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, RU-486 may be obtained only from doctors to end a pregnancy up to 49 days. It is commonly called the abortion pill.

The bill also seeks to prohibit so-called “wrongful-life” lawsuits that argue a disabled child would have been better off aborted.

You will all be FORCED to have a child and once that baby is born he/she is ON ITS OWN as far as health care, a decent environment, good schools, etc. are concerned. Of course, the parents should be well to do enough to provide private outlets for all of these things. The government should ONLY be in the business of war and war profiteering and providing corporate socialist to companies like Bear Stearns. Everyone is else dogmeat for the system.

And while were at it how about Janet Pearson’s column in the Tulsa World:

What ails us: Gov. Brad Henry took the courageous — remarkably courageous considering the political landscape here — step of vetoing an omnibus abortion bill that was opposed by the Oklahoma Section of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Oklahoma State Medical Association, among other groups. His veto was quickly overriden.

The ensuing political posturing was predictable. But what didn’t show up in print were behind-the-scenes comments from some lawmakers. One told an advocate this is the annual anti-abortion bill designed to give lawmakers useful campaign fodder, whether it’s a good law or not; another said he could be sure his female family members could get abortions regardless of the bill’s provisions, so he had no problem voting for it.

(oh, and be sure to read the comments of brain dead fascist Oklahoman right wingers under the story)

Wow.

I don’t know who that second legislator is but I’d like to see a group of women quite literally kick the shit out of him. That’s tyranny all right in Oklahoma and the (once free) USA. Fuck up the ass the other women in the state as long as MY FAMILY members can get an abortion. Seriously - I want to see this legislator, who ever he is, beaten to an inch of his life. He richly deserves it.

I think anyone with half a brain and a heart should get the hell out of the hopelessly backwards state of Oklahoma while they still can.

Yeah, I know, I live in Ohio which thanks to the downstate fascists, is only marginally better.