Jim Tracy Withdraws His Ultrasound Bill – includes discussion and speculation on SJR127, the proposed state constitutional amendment that would allow more restrictions after passage and allow a total ban in the unlikely event that Roe were overturned. SJR127 going to a vote by Tennesseans in 2014, so that’s not likely to turn out well for reproductive justice in this state.

The sponsor of the forced ultrasound bill made a statement like they were withdrawing this bill in order to “focus all of our efforts on promoting its [SJR127's] passage on the 2014 ballot.” One, we expect SJR 127 to pass. Two, they probably didn’t want to distract the voting public with actual debate on a real example of how egregious the restrictions they want to use SJR 127 to enact actually are (hey, like forced medical tests!). Three, even if passed, the forced ultrasound bill might have been unconstitutional as is – until SJR 127 passes. Ugh.

Abortion Ultrasound Bill Shelved by Sponsors – let me just highlight the quote from Rep. Rick Womick:

“Given the fact that most abortion clinics in Tennessee already administer an ultrasound before performing an abortion, it only makes sense that we as legislators should be allowed to ensure that the pregnant mother is given the opportunity to see the video and hear the heartbeat,” added Representative Womick.

That is such utter bullshit. There’s a tremendous gap between “a medical provider might use their judgment that an ultrasound is needed and a woman might consent to that” and forcing all women to have them regardless as a hoop to jump through to obtain a legal medical procedure. Providers who do conduct ultrasounds right now could already offer women the chance to see/hear, whereas the forced ultrasound bill would have required them to either see it or listen to a description even if they didn’t want to – even if they were rape or incest victims, or pregnant with a desperately wanted child they were unable to carry to term. Also, somehow I doubt that when Womick refers to “the pregnant mother” he’s talking about the two thirds of women who are already mothers when they have abortions – he’s simply framing women in terms of who he thinks they should be, what they can produce, and how he’d like to legally require that production.

Sponsors of Tennessee Forced Ultrasound Bill Turn to Constitutional Amendment Instead – This is SJR 127 getting some attention from national-level coverage at a repro rights info depot. So we’ll be waiting for all y’all from away to help us defeat that next year, okay?

As introduced, requires that an ultrasound be performed prior to an abortion, with an exception for medical emergencies. The bill tries to avoid controversy about transvaginal ultrasound that has encouraged opposition to other forced ultrasound bills, by saying it should be an transabdominal ultrasound. This is still forced use of a medical procedure with absolutely no medical indication, and without any room for the judgement of the clinician or the specific separate consent woman seeking the abortion.

Women would be also forced to either view or listen to a description of the ultrasound, and to receive a printed copy. Hey, that will be super awesome for women who were raped, or have illnesses that prohibit pregnancy, or for whatever reason wanted but simply cannot continue the pregnancy! Let’s traumatize women so we can better control them!

It’s unclear how transabdominal (over the belly) ultrasound could even fulfill the other requirements of the proposed law, given that most abortions occur very early in pregnancy and the heartbeat and visible images required by the bill are probably not going to be technically possible transabdominally when those abortions occur. There is nothing in the bill language to address this scenario, so there’s reasonable concern that this could prevent abortions by making them impossible to obtain under these requirements.

I’m concerned that providers, fulfilling the requirement to keep copies of the ultrasound in the medical records, are going to be in a bind – if they document transabdominal ultrasounds that do not show anything they’re supposed to be describing (because the technology can’t), perhaps they’ll be penalized. If they want to document those physical structures with an ultrasound, they’ll have to go the transvaginal route in many cases. This puts providers in a bind for legal compliance while letting the politicians off the hook for potentially forcing women to have objects placed in their vaginas as a roadblock to legal medical care.

It’s also unclear how the 24 hour waiting period could be enforced. Tennessee, based on its constitution, has previously held such restrictions to be unenforceable. However, this is going to a popular vote next year, so the bill if passed could definitely become enforceable at that time. The waiting period provision could also be stripped or modified before the bill goes to a vote – I’m hoping to hear more about the implications of this part of the bill from knowledgeable folks soon.

SB 632 was introduced in the state Senate by Republican Jim Tracy. The companion House bill (HB 984) was introduced by Republican Rick Womack.

The prime co-sponsors of the Senate bill at this time are all Republican women – Janice Bowling, Mae Beavers, and Dolores Gresham. Proponents of forced ultrasound bills often argue they’re needed so that women will really understand what they’re doing when they have abortions. I’d be interested in whether any of these women Senators would go on the record as stating that they think forced ultrasound is necessary because women who go for abortions simply don’t know that “pregnant” means “there’s a fetus in there.” Especially the 2/3 of women seeking abortions who are *already mothers.* I’m sure they have no clue what pregnancy is, and just turned up at the abortion clinic for ignorant funsies.

Please, Senators, come right out and tell your women constituents exactly how much you think of their mental abilities. You either think they’re stupid, or you’re simply trying to obstruct their ability to access a legal service however possible (while pretending it’s for their own good), or both. Come out and say it. You owe it to us when you’re trying to restrict our rights.

Additional resources:
-Full-text of the bill as introduced
-State Sen. Jim Tracy Files an Ultrasound Before Abortion Bill – coverage at Pith in the Wind (Nashville, TN)

State Sen. Jim Tracy Files an Ultrasound Before Abortion Bill

One wonders why Tracy thinks women go to have abortions if we don’t know we’re pregnant. But this is clearly just designed to be an egregious pain in the ass of women who want to have an abortion. Tracy and the state just want to make sure we know how stupid they think we are, and how little they think of us. They also want skirt the disastrously unpopular transvaginal ultrasound legislation that caused so many headaches for Republicans when many states tried to pass it last year.

At the end of 2011, there were 1,100 abortion reproductive health and rights provisions, an increase from 950 in 2010. One of these provisions was the requirement of ultrasounds. As of August 1st, 2012, there are 21 states that regulate ultrasounds from abortion providers. More recently, Paul Ryan has cosponsored a bill that will “ensure that women seeking an abortion receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to review the ultrasound before giving informed consent to receive an abortion.”

The principle of ensuring that women receive an ultrasound before an abortion is a severe and gross invasion of privacy, especially in the case of transvaginal ultrasounds.  The state is, firstly, emotionally manipulating a woman to see an image of a fetus in hopes of convincing the woman to change her mind and bring the fetus to full term (psychological complications are highly prevalent in relation to abortion). Ultrasounds are also expensive. If emotional damage doesn’t work, then financial damage certainly will!  Then, when the woman does not wish to have an ultrasound, whether she has been a victim of rape or has just decided she does not feel ready to care for a child, the state inserts itself inside the woman’s body.

“You just have to close your eyes.” -Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett

Thanks, Mr. Corbett. It’s good to know women still have control of their eye functions!

Forced ultrasounds before abortions is a singular problem in a boundless sea of anti-abortion provisions (which I find is a perfect way of illustrating the”governmentality” of society). Ehrenreich & English, in For Her Own Good, shows how, in the early 1900s, mostly male doctors insisted they had superior knowledge of obstetrics than midwives did when it was very much the opposite.  The doctors effectively removed the presence of women (midwives and patients alike), relegating all women to ”employees, customers, or [simply] ‘material” in the medical system. The case of forced ultrasounds reduces women to “material” as well, because it is a patronizing notion. Women are fully aware of their decisions to have an abortion and there is no medical benefit  (which has been proven through extensive research) to the ultrasound. It is cruel and unnecessary.

There have been riots against forced ultrasounds and various online petitions against the practice. There has also been a labeling of forced ultrasounds as a “sex-crime.” In Febuary of 2012, Democrats spoke out against transvaginal ultrasounds by deeming it as object sexual penetration (OSP), which in a crime that results in five years of jail.

There will undoubtedly be more anti-abortion provisions in the future and society needs to understand that a woman’s body is not theirs to govern. Women are not material, and women can make their own decisions as they see fit.

EXTRA: Jon Stewart – “Punanny State – Virginia’s Transvaginal Ultrasound Bill.”

-SH

See more at the BIG THINK
http://youtu.be/1SpWHRpT4KI

[Using Planned Parenthood when I was in college and broke, I had no other access to affordable contraception - thanks to them I was provided for and had regular exams...It's time we end the war on women, don't you agree? Think about it - planned parenthood- that makes sense ... Lara]

I am writing to express my disappointment that you chose not to publish this week’s Doonesbury strips in the print edition of the paper. You explained that the Wednesday strip was not published due to “graphic wording,” but it is baffling as to what the supposedly offensively graphic word might have been. I can only assume it was “transvaginal,” but The Tennessean has previously permitted this word in at least three previous articles, including a recent one on papers electing not to carry the strip.

Tuesday’s installment, in which a woman is called a “slut,” was obviously not too provocative to carry in print, yet the proper name of a medical procedure being forced upon women seeking abortion apparently offended your sensibilities. It’s okay to call women seeking abortion disparaging names, but it’s not okay to mention their vaginas?

Doonesbury is meant to be provocative, political, and satirical, something you surely realize in carrying the strip. Many papers place it in the opinion section for this very reason. There is an argument to be made, I think, about not carrying Thursday’s strip in the comics sections, given the concluding line about rape. Many people believe that rape should never be a punchline. There is legitimate debate to be had about whether its use in this instance is inappropriately meant to be “funny” or is simply a reflection many women’s expressed perspective – that being forced to have an object inserted in one’s vagina for non-medical purposes to serve the agendas of anti-abortion politicians is indeed a form of rape or assault.

The Tennessean did not choose to run the strip and allow it to foster debate about this question or questions of abortion, politics, or the ethics of forced ultrasound. Instead, The Tennessean decided it was important to protect print readers from being exposed to medical terminology and a real rights issue facing women who choose to terminate pregnancies. When our local newspaper is deciding that its readers can’t handle the subject of a national debate, concerning itself more perhaps with advertisers sharing space with even slightly provocative content, and determining that “slut” is okay but “transvaginal” is not, it simply reinforces the perception that real Tennesseans are not being served by the newspaper sharing their name.

You can see the strips over at Slate, write your paper with thanks if they’re carrying it or complaints if they’re not. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which has been fighting the Texas forced ultrasound law, is asking people to sign a letter of thanks to papers that are carrying the strip, and to let them know about papers that aren’t.

I also have a post on the Doonesbury controversy over at the Our Bodies Ourselves blog.

We are glad to see people in Virginia taking a stand against these potentially oppressive laws, and look forward to the day when more people will take a stand against a system that makes even the proposal of such laws possible.
As anarchists, we do not seek reform or believe that reform through legislative bodies or politicians is a realistic solution to our problems. We would rather seek out and attack the roots of the problems, including misogny, sexism, patriarchy, capitalism, and hierarchy.
We do believe in self-defense, solidarity, direct action, and mutual aid.
Women, and anarchists will not stand for these laws, and the passing of any of these laws only goes to show the level of patriarchy still alive and well in the capitalist government system.
As anarchists, we support all attempts to fight back against a system attempting to criminalize, assault, objectify, violate, limit, and control women.
We encourage and support those who will defend the rights of women to control their own lives and bodies by any means necessary.

Go below for more about next Monday’s protest:

The VA General Assembly is attempting to outlaw abortions, the morning after pill and most hormonal birth control. They want to make it mandatory for us report miscarriages within one hour to the police and be able to charge us with murder if we do choose to get an abortion once illegal. They want us to have to get and see ultrasounds before choosing to get an abortion as psychological blackmail. The only place that will offer this if a woman can’t afford the ultrasound is a conservative crisis pregnancy center where they will then tell her how horrible she is. They want to stop federal funding to low income women with high risk pregnancies essentially forcing women carry even if the fetus would not make it through to labor. They want to change building codes in Virginia so that MOST places you can receive an abortion would be shut down. These are known as TRAP laws and are not technically session laws they are happening congruently.

There is also legislation trying to stop the current procedure of shackling women prisoner in labor. This is a serious and dangerous session to women and they mean business. We should show them we do too by speaking loudly in silence for women’s reproductive rights! We are not gonna take this anymore!

On Feb 20th at 11 am, we are we’re putting out the call for 500 women (but men very welcome and wanted!) to line either side of the walkway between the general assembly building and the Capitol in SILENCE as our Senators and Representatives pass between the two buildings several times a day to work on passing these bills. This is also President’s day so lots of folks will have off work but the legislators and the Governor have a full schedule.

The Capitol ground rules say that we can not assemble, hold signs, chant, yell or protest. We think silence in the face of this struggle and their unconstitutional rules is by far the strongest response to their terror on women.

Please come out and stand up for our rights and for the rights of all women in VA to choose the best reproductive route for themselves.

_____________________________________________________________

+Morgan Zito will be making a text list to remind people that morning. So if you want to come but are worried about remembering, message Morgan Zito your number and you will get on this one time only text tree.

+Since there are no signs allowed on capitol grounds please note that you can wear words on your clothing.

+We embrace autonomous action and autonomous messages.

+PLEASE SHARE this event and be sure to invite your friends. It is very helpful to send a message with the event as well.

+**This event has a moderate risk level. Though, we think it is riskier to Virginia’s women NOT to do it.**

For further information on radical feminism we suggest you check out some of these articles and zines. You can also find many feminist zines and books in the Wingnut Radical Lending Library, with Open Hours on Wednesdays and Fridays from 4-9pm:
Jane
Documents from Chicago’s clandestine Abortion service

http://zinelibrary.info/jane

Self-Managed Health Centres and Feminist Self-Help Abortion Clinics in 1970′s Italy
” It’s impossible to approach these few basic notes on self-managed health in Italy in the period of the 70′s without saying just a few words as background and context as to why such radical actions could come into being.
From 1968 to 1977 an explosion of self-directed political activity took place all over Italy. Th is political momentum, best described as waves of radical critique and practice than as one united movement was called Autonomia (Autonomy). Although Autonomia came from and maintained links to the communist left, it was usually critical of the old-style party discipline and hierarchical ways of orga- nising although not immune to criticism as we shall see…”

http://zinelibrary.info/self-managed-health-centres-and-feminist-self-help-abortion-clinics-1970s-italy-0

Boston Anti-Authoritarian Movement #12
August 23, 2008

a General Anarchist Union in the Boston Area

We are proud to release our 12th issue, which is also our 1 year
birthday issue! As always you can download the PDF, but we are also now
offering a mail subscription. Check “Our birthday ” article on oage 2
for info on subscriptions.
Text version also below

Sacco And Vanzetti Remembered
ICE Strikes Mass.
Our Birthday Issue! Pg 2
Hacking the T pg 3
Verizon Workers Win Contract, Pg 5
A Preview of the DNC, Pg 5
Abortion in Ireland Pg 6
War in Georgia, Pg 8

http://zinelibrary.info/boston-anti-authoritarian-movement-12

Reproductive Rights in America

One of the most controversial subjects in the news is abortions. Conservatives and liberals debate whether women should be allowed to obtain abortions, neither side budging on the issue. In this battle, health care services are cut and reproductive rights are denied. The state is attempting to take away our rights as men and women to determine the timing, spacing, and number of our children. The political fight over abortion leaves the American people, especially low-income women, as the victims. However, there should not be a fight about abortions, but rather a collective effort to target the real problem: unwanted pregnancies. Democrats and Republicans could work together to increase education, access to birth control, and health care services to prevent the inexcusable number of unwanted pregnancies in America.

http://zinelibrary.info/reproductive-rights-america

http://zinelibrary.info/anarchist-feminism

http://zinelibrary.info/no-god-no-boss-no-husband-anarchist-feminism-nineteenth-century-argentina-0

http://zinelibrary.info/para-matar-al-hombre-thoughts-patriarchy-technology-attack-feminism

http://zinelibrary.info/said-pot-kettle

http://zinelibrary.info/untying-knot