Topic: Misogynist Assholes
[Cross-posted from my Blogpost, Aiken Area Progressive]
COLUMBIA -- Just when you thought big government conservatives would really want to repair their image, the misogynist state legislatures here in my home state want to ban all abortions by stating that life begins at the point fertilization. And one of the most vocal supporters of this Taliban-like measure is none other than Mr. Taliban of South Carolina himself, Johnny Gardner. From The State (the newspaper's report in black):
<quote>
The abortion debate is heating up again this year at the State House with a new bill that asserts life begins at the moment of fertilization.
But others who attended the subcommittee meeting, including members of the S.C. Coalition for Healthy Families, say the bill threatens women’s access to birth control.
In particular, it might affect access to the morning-after pill, an
emergency contraceptive that is a high dose of the drug found in many regular birth control pills. Taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex, it greatly reduces the risk of pregnancy.
“Do these lawmakers want to tell the women in their districts that
they’re denying them access to birth control?” said Brandi Parrish, coordinator and legislative liaison for the coalition.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Greg Delleney, R-Chester, said the subcommittee will get clarification from McMaster on whether and how the bill would affect birth control access before scheduling additional public hearings.
The bill is viewed by some as the latest attempt to chisel away at
abortion rights in the Palmetto State.
Last year, a bill was introduced that would have required a woman
seeking an abortion to view an ultrasound image of the fetus.
Thursday marked the fourth time the Right to Life bill has come before the House subcommittee. Last year, it made it out of the House but died in the Senate.
Some women, like Kathy Finger, of Columbia, say only pregnant women and those close to them have the right to decide whether an abortion is the right option.
In 2004, Finger, who was pregnant, learned she had cancer and needed chemotherapy to survive — a move that would hurt her fetus.
She opted to take a limited amount of chemotherapy drugs until after
the baby was born.
Today, Finger and her daughter are doing well.
“Myself, my husband, my family, we were the only ones who could decide what was best to do in our situation,” she said. “For anyone to presume to make the decision for us, that would be audaciously presumptuous.”
</quote>
I absolutely agree with Mrs. Kathy Finger. The very people who are pushing for this so-called "Right to Life Act" are all men, all of whom can never get pregnant: Gov. Mark Sanford, AG Henry McMaster, Gardner, and state Rep. Greg Delleney. This is yet another attempt by the anti-choice lunatic fringe to rape women on the spot. The SC Coalition for Healthy Families is correct: this bill would outlaw birth control. And did anyone notice that this is a trigger law -- meaning that it would take effect should the Supreme Court strip what little rights women have left right out of our Constitution?
This bill is a blatant attempt by our state government to control women's bodies. And it must be stopped at all costs. The people of South Carolina have an obligation to defeat any and all measures by our state government to control women's bodies. And there is one co-incidence I found with the bill: it was introduced on Valentine's Day. We tell women that love don't have to hurt, but the state government sure don't want women to be free. I have posted about attempts by Colorado, Georgia, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Mississippi wanting to force its sharia laws on women. Other bloggers -- such as Cara from the Curvature -- have talked extensively about attempts in Missouri, North Dakota and Indiana by rogue state legislatures to put their sharia laws on women. All of these laws would allow the government to rape women. Forced pregnancy is rape. And these laws make the antis very similar to the Taliban.
We must change the faces of the people who make laws if we are going to assure that women are going to be free.
