Georgia Senate Passes New Abortion Bill

I'm not sure how I feel about this bill. It claims to only punish those who try to coerce women to have an abortion, which is good. Obviously having the right to choose involves having the right to choose to not have an abortion. But for some reason this bill makes me somewhat nervous. The language feels too vague, and it kind of stinks of paternalism. I'm worried that this would be used to restrict access to reproductive services under the guise of protecting women. A few quotes from the debate to get you thinking:

While it is clear that black women make up more than a majority of the state’s abortions, Pearson said that in 64 percent of abortions in Georgia, “some form of coercion is present.”...

The bill drew intense criticism from pro-choice senators, who questioned the bill’s purpose and legality.

“This bill was created under the false assumption that abortion doctors solicit women of color, particularly, black women,” said Sen. Donzella James of College Park. “This bill calls into question all who make a deeply private and personal medical decision. Every woman, regardless of ethnic background, should have the ability to make personal decisions. Not the people in this room. It is between, she, her family and God.”

Help Get Racist Anti-Choice Posters Taken Down

Remember that post I wrote earlier about those racist anti-abortion posters? Pissed off about them? Well now there is something you can do about it! SPARK Reproductive Justice Now has a campaign to get the posters taken down. Take action here.

See also: "Womb Lynching" at Jezebel and "To Court Blacks, Foes of Abortion Make Racial Case" at The New York Times

Is there love after abortion?

Over at Viva la Feminista, Veronica asks:

Are we socialized to believe that despite study after study saying that women overwhelmingly feel relief after an abortion, that two adults in love must break up? That having an abortion dooms their romance?
...
what if an abortion was what saved a relationship instead of dooming it to be feel like a forced marriage? Allowing the characters to reexamine their lives and move on together?

Do You Trust Women?

A post over at Bitch Ph.D discusses the implications of being pro-choice.

An excerpt of the post:

The bottom line about abortion is this. Do you trust women to make their own moral judgments? If you are anti-abortion, then no. You do not. You have an absolute moral position that you don't trust anyone to question, and therefore you think that abortion should be illegal. But the second you start making exceptions for rape or incest, you are indicating that your moral position is not absolute. That moral judgment is involved. And that right there is where I start to get angry and frustrated, because unless you have an absolute position that all human life (arguably, all life period, but that isn't the argument I'm engaging with right now) are equally valuable (in which case, no exceptions for the death penalty, and I expect you to agonize over women who die trying to abort, and I also expect you to work your ass off making this a more just world in which women don't have to choose abortions, but this is also not the argument I'm engaging right now), then there is no ground whatsoever for saying that there should be laws or limitations on abortion other than that you do not trust women.

I, personally, am not sure that I agree with her opinion: I find her ultimatum to be a bit harsh when she seems to say that one can not be pro-choice while still finding certain types of abortions/situations to be morally uncomfortable. It is an interesting piece, however, and well worth reading. I feel that this brings up an issue that one often finds when discussing freedom of speech, as the quote atributed to Voltaire puts it: "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." While I may not agree with some women's choices, I do believe they have the right to choose to make that choice. However, that does not mean I no longer have a right to decide what feels right or wrong for me. The whole point is that everyone should have the right to do what feels right for them, and not tell others what that right feeling is. So I am entitled to my discomfort in the same way I am entitled to access to reproductive health care.

I feel that eventually she comes around to this, writing that

If you're pro-choice, you have to give up the right to have a "say" in someone else's choice. If you're pro-feminist, you have to give up the right to expect your personal feelings to be more important than women's public rights--including the right to be unpleasant, if, in her judgement, unpleasantness is called for.