quick-fingersOklahoma, Republicans, and Abortion.
Oklahoma has been a conservative state for a long time now. Given this fact, many things that the Oklahoma Legislature does, does not surprise me in the least. However, I ran across an article in The New York Times, and what I found was disgusting to me.
According to the New York Times, the Oklahoma Legislature overrode two pieces of legislation that had been vetoed by Governor Brad Henry.
The first of the two pieces of legislation was a bill requiring women to have ultrasounds before getting an abortion. While this in itself is not bad, it is the specificity that bothers me. The Legislation is mandating that the person giving the ultrasound has to "set up the monitor so the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims" (McKinley par 2).
So even if a woman is raped, or a daughter is molested, the impregnated woman must be tortured by being forced to see the baby before the abortion takes place. I'm not an advocate of abortion, but I am an advocate of a woman's right to choose. This however, goes far beyond anti-abortion. This is absolutely ridiculous. However, this was not the end of the Oklahoma Legislatures madness.
The second piece of legislation, which was passed in to law, prevents a woman, who has a disabled baby, from suing a doctor that did not tell the mother about birth defects of the baby when it was still in the womb.
In a nutshell, the bill protects doctors who impose their moral beliefs on women by not telling them something is wrong the mothers child, because the doctor thinks she may have an abortion. This is ludacris. If the doctor knows that something is wrong, he should be bound by law to tell the mother. No ifs ands or buts. If the woman chooses to abort, because she doesn't want a child growing up miserable due to some birth defect, then that's her decision and should not be forced to have the baby. (McKinley par 2).
This is an absolutely ridiculous "imposition" of our state government. It is always the republican party that says "I don't want my government telling me what to do," yet the republican legislature in Oklahoma passes things like this. It is absolutely disgusting to me that they think they are somehow important enough to make that decision for mothers in Oklahoma.
Now, don't take my posting the wrong way. You'll never hear me say, "boy I hope those people get abortions." I am by no means an advocate of abortion. I simply believe that there are certain extenuating circumstances that occur, that may cause a mother to want to abort her baby. She should have that option. No one has a right to say what she does with her fetus.
I do, on the other hand, believe there should be a time limit on abortions, and the time limit should be only a few months.
Feel free to voice your opinion with comments. This is a touchy subject for a lot of people, so please try not to be offensive to others. Thank you.
McKinley, James c. "Strict Abortion Measures Enacted in Oklahoma." The New York Times. 27 April 2010. Web. 19 May 2010.
According to the New York Times, the Oklahoma Legislature overrode two pieces of legislation that had been vetoed by Governor Brad Henry.
The first of the two pieces of legislation was a bill requiring women to have ultrasounds before getting an abortion. While this in itself is not bad, it is the specificity that bothers me. The Legislation is mandating that the person giving the ultrasound has to "set up the monitor so the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims" (McKinley par 2).
So even if a woman is raped, or a daughter is molested, the impregnated woman must be tortured by being forced to see the baby before the abortion takes place. I'm not an advocate of abortion, but I am an advocate of a woman's right to choose. This however, goes far beyond anti-abortion. This is absolutely ridiculous. However, this was not the end of the Oklahoma Legislatures madness.
The second piece of legislation, which was passed in to law, prevents a woman, who has a disabled baby, from suing a doctor that did not tell the mother about birth defects of the baby when it was still in the womb.
In a nutshell, the bill protects doctors who impose their moral beliefs on women by not telling them something is wrong the mothers child, because the doctor thinks she may have an abortion. This is ludacris. If the doctor knows that something is wrong, he should be bound by law to tell the mother. No ifs ands or buts. If the woman chooses to abort, because she doesn't want a child growing up miserable due to some birth defect, then that's her decision and should not be forced to have the baby. (McKinley par 2).
This is an absolutely ridiculous "imposition" of our state government. It is always the republican party that says "I don't want my government telling me what to do," yet the republican legislature in Oklahoma passes things like this. It is absolutely disgusting to me that they think they are somehow important enough to make that decision for mothers in Oklahoma.
Now, don't take my posting the wrong way. You'll never hear me say, "boy I hope those people get abortions." I am by no means an advocate of abortion. I simply believe that there are certain extenuating circumstances that occur, that may cause a mother to want to abort her baby. She should have that option. No one has a right to say what she does with her fetus.
I do, on the other hand, believe there should be a time limit on abortions, and the time limit should be only a few months.
Feel free to voice your opinion with comments. This is a touchy subject for a lot of people, so please try not to be offensive to others. Thank you.
McKinley, James c. "Strict Abortion Measures Enacted in Oklahoma." The New York Times. 27 April 2010. Web. 19 May 2010.
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One factor you didn't mention also is that before a certain point in a pregnancy ultrasounds have to be administered vaginally. So since there is not exception for a rape victim, can you imagine the horror of being raped, and finding out you're pregnant, and then in order to have an abortion having to have someone putting things inside you again.
It's terrible, and I hope the people of that state realise that and take action. And that doctors use discretion and maybe fudge things a little bit until this thing is fixed.