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Sunday, July 26, 2009

In case you thought the so-called pro-life movement was about life and not about patriarchy

Posted by Jill | 11:50 AM

Pam found this little tidbit -- this batshit crazy Ohio state legislator wants any woman seeking an abortion to have a man's permission. No exceptions:

ed by Rep. John Adams, a group of state legislators have submitted a bill that would give fathers of unborn children a final say in whether or not an abortion can take place.

It's a measure that, supporters say, would finally give fathers a choice.

"This is important because there are always two parents and fathers should have a say in the birth or the destruction of that child," said Adams, a Republican from Sidney. "I didn't bring it up to draw attention to myself or to be controversial. In most cases, when a child is born the father has financial responsibility for that child, so he should have a say."

As written, the bill would ban women from seeking an abortion without written consent from the father of the fetus. In cases where the identity of the father is unknown, women would be required to submit a list of possible fathers. The physician would be forced to conduct a paternity test from the provided list and then seek paternal permission to abort.

Claiming to not know the father's identity is not a viable excuse, according to the proposed legislation. Simply put: no father means no abortion.

"I'm really pleased that this has been proposed for one reason - it draws attention to the fact that many men are concerned and care for their unborn children," said Denise Mackura, the director of the Ohio Right to Life Society. "You have no idea how many men call telling me about their girlfriends who plan to abort, asking what they can do to help her. They do want to help and they should have a voice."

With the proposal, men would be guaranteed that voice under penalty of law. First time violators would by tried for abortion fraud, a first degree misdemeanor. The same would be the case for men who falsely claim to be fathers and for medical workers who knowingly perform an abortion without paternal consent.

In addition, women would be required to present a police report in order to prove a pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

If you're pregnant and your husband is abusive, too fucking bad for you.

If you're twelve and pregnant by your father and he wants you to have the baby, too fucking bad for you.

If you were raped and you couldn't bring yourself to deal with the humiliation of reporting it, too fucking bad for you.

If your husband decided to go fuck his mistress in Argentina and you don't know where he is or when he'll be back or how to get in touch with him, too fucking bad for you.

Because if you're a woman of reproductive age in this country, as far as these legislators (and many in Washington, I'd wager) are concerned, a man OWNS you. Whether he's your husband, your boyfriend, your father, a guy at a party who slipped a roofie into your drink, or a stranger on the street, it doesn't matter. If you're pregnant, he owns you.

Why is anyone still taking these people seriously?

The issue isn't whether this insanity will be passed, because it won't. But it IS indicative of the true mindset behind many of those who profess to be "pro-life". The only life that matters to them is the potential life that may be keeping a woman subjugated to a man, no matter what her relationship to that man may be; even if it's a stranger in a dark alley, a pedophile father, or a guy with date rape drugs at a party.

And before you point out that the article is from 2007, the legislation has just been reintroduced.

Labels: batshit crazies, reproductive rights, wingnuttia

4 comments

4 Comments:

It's just me said...

Or, if you're a woman who chooses to have a one-night stand, and inadvertently becomes pregnant, too fucking bad for you.

Or, if you're a woman in the midst of divorce---good, bad, or indifferent---and discover you're pregnant, too fucking bad for you.

Not only does the patriarchy want to violate a woman's medical privacy, it also wants to violate her sexual privacy.

Maybe the kind legislators should pass a law that requires all men to keep their penises in their pants, or have them chopped off.

7/26/09, 1:33 PM

Kieron said...

"You have no idea how many men call telling me about their girlfriends who plan to abort etc etc etc"

I don't believe that for a second.

Shades of The Handmaid's Tale.

7/26/09, 1:42 PM

mandt said...

In the best of all alternative universes, such male legislators who contract cancerous anal polyps should first have surgical permission from a female doctor.

7/26/09, 6:55 PM

Scribble A Day said...

Ah, a return to the good old days. I suppose next they will introduce laws governing marriage by rape, and giving a man the right to divorce his wife should she prove to be barren.
Sometimes I'm really embarrassed to admit that I live in Ohio. I was looking at a report someone linked to during the Sanford brouhaha, showing each state's educational rank. Ohio is down in the 30's. No wonder we keep electing such dumbkopfs.

7/27/09, 2:53 PM