I was angry. SO angry. Now I am just sad. And frightened out of my mind.
Utah is considering and apparently likely to pass a law criminalizing miscarriage. A woman could receive up to life in prison if a medical professional even thinks and a prosecutor can prove that she did anything that could have intentionally caused a miscarriage:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/2/24/840197/-Please-Help:-Utah-defines-miscarriage-as-criminal-homicide
Yesterday I heard about a woman in Florida whose doctor obtained a court order to force her in to the hospital for bed rest:
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/doctor_gets_court_order_to_confine_pregnant_woman_against_her_will
Today, I heard about Iowa’s feticide law:
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/pregnant_iowa_woman_arrested_for_falling_down
I should have known about all of this sooner. I fully blame myself for not being more informed. But now I know. And I am mad as hell. I am a feminist, but I love men. I am concerned about hatred or dislike or prejudice expressed towards men, especially now that I have a son to raise.
However, it appears that many do not have the same concern for hatred or dislike or prejudice expressed towards women. I have wondered the past few years whether my concerns for women’s rights were overblown in this day and age. Maybe I was being oversensitive. I have no doubt now that my concerns are completely valid.
Now some lawmakers in Utah and THIRTY-SEVEN other states think women are not trustworthy enough to be entrusted with this natural process we have performed for milennia. All of a sudden, women are too dangerous or just too stupid to safeguard a human life. The state governments think we need to be forced in to protecting our pregnancies. They think they suddenly need to help us with our biological privilege of carrying children.
I have a child. I wanted to be a mother ever since I was a little girl. I loved being pregnant. I thought childbirth was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I think pregnancy and childbirth are fascinating in general. I am even considering becoming a doula one day. I definitely want more kids. It makes me proud to be a woman, knowing that my body can protect and produce a life and nourish it.
Women have been doing this since the beginning of the human race.
They are trying to hide behind wanting to protect children. But there is a real, live, breathing, complex human being carrying that child. A human being with rights. With as many rights as that fetus. I want more children, but this possibility makes me scared to have more children. If more of these laws are enacted, I very well might not. Being pregnant is nerve-wracking enough without worrying that you will be arrested for having a miscarriage after drinking Diet Coke throughout your first trimester.
Where are our advocates? Where is Gloria Steinem? Where is Hillary Clinton? (She can usually be trusted to say something, even if it’s not popular.) Where is President Obama? Where is Michelle Obama? Does President Obama just not care about all the women who voted for him?
I feel like there is no one to protect me. I can’t believe that this proposal has gotten as far as it has. I can’t believe that so many do not realize what an atrocity this is against women and what it says about society’s attitude towards women. They are saying that we do not matter at all if we are carrying a child. They are saying we have no rights and are untrustworthy and possibly stupid.
STOP trying to legislate my body. I know how to protect myself. I know how to protect any children I carry. I can be trusted to do so. And so can most other women. Please spread the word. Do not let this happen. Do not let the last vestiges of joy and wonder be taken from pregnancy and childbirth. Don’t let the government kick a woman who has lost her child when she is down. Women have been entrusted with pregnancy and childbirth since the beginning of the human race. Women are human beings with rights who do not become pregnant by themselves, but are sometimes left alone with the consequences. Butt out and let us make our own decisions like every other American adult. Butt out and leave the baby production to the experts.
Kittymomma's Adventures 