How Has This Happened???

I have not included the link to this article in the title. I want you to read the entire article so I am going to copy and paste it here in it's entirety. Lately I've been grumbling under my breath because of lack of inspiration from the news and blogging community and I must admit I've been barely reading anything for the last week or so. Tonight, as sick as I am I have just been made sicker. I had to go heave three times before I could even sit down to share it with you. What has a generation's work been for, I ask you? I feel like we have just gone back to medieval times. Before I go off on too much of a tangent here is the article:

New Oklahoma Law: Women Seeking Abortions Must Have Ultrasounds Against Their Will
By Dana Stone, Alternet Reproductive & Gender Newsletter, April 30,2008

"The Oklahoma State Legislature is playing doctor again. Last year they dictated how specialists at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center may care for pregnant women who have medical complications. This week, despite intense lobbying efforts and the Governor’s veto, the legislature passed Senate Bill 1878, which mandates invasive and unnecessary medical testing for women.

Under the guise of obtaining informed patient consent, this new law requires doctors to withhold pregnancy termination until an ultrasound is performed. The law states that either an abdominal or vaginal ultrasound, whichever gives the best image of the fetus, must be done. Neither the patient nor the doctor can decide which type of ultrasound to use, and the patient cannot opt out of the ultrasound and still have the procedure. In effect, then, the legislature has mandated that a woman have an instrument placed in her vagina for no medical benefit. The law makes no exception for victims of rape and incest.

By existing law, women already must be told where to find information about fetal development and referred to locations for a free ultrasound before a termination can be scheduled.

Physicians learn to protect the doctor-patient relationship throughout medical training. We learn that this interaction is for the patient’s benefit, that the patient sets the agenda for the encounter, and the patient is entitled to refuse any treatment or testing. We are not there to impose judgment or our own beliefs on the patient. These protections are vital to maintaining the therapeutic nature of the relationship.

This new law inserts the government directly into the doctor-patient interaction and promotes the legislators’ personal values rather than the best interest of the patient. This sets a dangerous precedent that could be extended into other aspects of patient care, especially other controversial areas of medicine.

In a further reversal of standard medical practice, this bill defines failure to perform this unnecessary medical procedure as "unprofessional conduct" and suggests that the state medical board may remove the physician’s license. Failure to perform the ultrasound also leads to fines beginning at $10,000 and increasing to more than $100,000. By comparison, the highest fine for negligent homicide or driving under the influence in Oklahoma is $1,000.

This "Big Brother" assault by minority special interests on the doctor-patient relationship should repel all Americans. We must hold our legislators accountable for this very literal government intrusion into women’s bodies. Advocates for women’s health need to watch for similar legislation in their own states."

Dana Stone, M.D., FACOG


I ask again...How Can This Happen? Where is our own respect for our own selves? I know the new buzz word that everyone is using these days is "mysogyny" so I hate to use it here, but this is the best, or worst example of it in it's true form that I have ever seen. This is outright torture. Not only to the bodies of women but to their very psyche as well. How can this be allowed to happen? I know I am repeating myself but I just sit here in full blown astonishment, wanting to just bang my head against a wall repeatedly until the pain stops. I don't believe there is a woman alive that has an abortion for fun. They have passed this legislation as if it is necessary to make us think before having one. I don't know of a woman alive that needs to be told to think about it before doing it. That is all we do and all we will do forever after. To be told we must come face to face with our unborn fetus is the worst form of torture I have ever heard of in this country. Why don't they make it mandatory that the father's of these unborn fetuses must also be at that ultrasound appointment. I've said it before and I will continue to say it...If 100% of the men 50% responsible for the pregnancy were held as accountable for the care of the child as women then at the very least 80% of abortions would not be necessary.