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defrogSome people have been kicking this around on the Facebooks, and this is not a topic I usually blog about, but the whole thing is frankly bizarre to me.
The topic: the Republican-controlled Virginia Legislature has passed a bill that would require a woman who wants to get an abortion to have an ultrasound done first – which, in most cases, will mean a transvaginal procedure, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced. Under the law, the woman has no option to refuse this procedure, so consent is irrelevant. She does, however, have the option of not getting an abortion.
See what they did there?
The story baffled me at first because I couldn’t for the life of me work out why the Republicans came up with it in the first place (officially, I mean, since they can’t come right out and say “This is to prevent women from getting abortions”).
Turns out the official rationale (paraphrased) is “ensuring women have as much information as possible to make an informed decision about whether to go through with an abortion”.
Uh-huh.
Okay, that may be true in the sense that Republicans might be banking on some fantasy scenario where the woman seeing an ultrasound of an embryo in her uterus will somehow convince her (or shame her, or whatever) not to go through with the abortion.
That said, informed decisions are usually voluntary. Also, this is the same party that thinks teenagers will not have sex if you tell them not to and don’t tell them anything about contraception, and that the way to prevent kids from becoming gay is to never mention it out loud.
Also also, it’s a bit disingenuous for Republican lawmakers to blather on about informed decisions when they also go around saying really ignorant things like abortion is a “lifestyle convenience” (you know, like pedicures), and that non-consensual transvaginal procedures are no big deal because women had already made the decision to be “vaginally penetrated when they got pregnant”.
In fairness (such as it is), I should add that Slate has suggested that the Virginia GOP is deliberately playing the fool in the hopes that someone will challenge the law and force a review of Roe v Wade, which they’ve wanted for years. Maybe. But if that’s the case, it says a lot when you care about a given issue so much that yr willing to portray yrself and yr entire political party as a pack of ignorant misogynist hicks.
On the other hand, when you live in yr own media echo chamber, you do get to live in yr own little self-reinforcing fantasy world of truthiness where women soldiers should avoid combat because they’re a distraction and just asking to be raped, Obamacare’s rules on contraception coverage amount to an all-out war on Christianity (and will end the human race because there will be no more babies), and it’s unreasonable for sexually active women to object to doctors sticking medical gear up their hoo-ha because they should be used to having long hard things shoved up there by now.
So it’s not like they know they sound like ignorant misogynist hicks.
Open wide,
This is dF
The topic: the Republican-controlled Virginia Legislature has passed a bill that would require a woman who wants to get an abortion to have an ultrasound done first – which, in most cases, will mean a transvaginal procedure, in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced. Under the law, the woman has no option to refuse this procedure, so consent is irrelevant. She does, however, have the option of not getting an abortion.
See what they did there?
The story baffled me at first because I couldn’t for the life of me work out why the Republicans came up with it in the first place (officially, I mean, since they can’t come right out and say “This is to prevent women from getting abortions”).
Turns out the official rationale (paraphrased) is “ensuring women have as much information as possible to make an informed decision about whether to go through with an abortion”.
Uh-huh.
Okay, that may be true in the sense that Republicans might be banking on some fantasy scenario where the woman seeing an ultrasound of an embryo in her uterus will somehow convince her (or shame her, or whatever) not to go through with the abortion.
That said, informed decisions are usually voluntary. Also, this is the same party that thinks teenagers will not have sex if you tell them not to and don’t tell them anything about contraception, and that the way to prevent kids from becoming gay is to never mention it out loud.
Also also, it’s a bit disingenuous for Republican lawmakers to blather on about informed decisions when they also go around saying really ignorant things like abortion is a “lifestyle convenience” (you know, like pedicures), and that non-consensual transvaginal procedures are no big deal because women had already made the decision to be “vaginally penetrated when they got pregnant”.
In fairness (such as it is), I should add that Slate has suggested that the Virginia GOP is deliberately playing the fool in the hopes that someone will challenge the law and force a review of Roe v Wade, which they’ve wanted for years. Maybe. But if that’s the case, it says a lot when you care about a given issue so much that yr willing to portray yrself and yr entire political party as a pack of ignorant misogynist hicks.
On the other hand, when you live in yr own media echo chamber, you do get to live in yr own little self-reinforcing fantasy world of truthiness where women soldiers should avoid combat because they’re a distraction and just asking to be raped, Obamacare’s rules on contraception coverage amount to an all-out war on Christianity (and will end the human race because there will be no more babies), and it’s unreasonable for sexually active women to object to doctors sticking medical gear up their hoo-ha because they should be used to having long hard things shoved up there by now.
So it’s not like they know they sound like ignorant misogynist hicks.
Open wide,
This is dF
New Tag
on 2012-02-18 04:08 am (UTC)~M~
no subject
on 2012-02-18 01:24 pm (UTC)Honestly I just don't understand what mojo the GOP has that can make people continually support them. They obviously hate anyone who isn't a WASP male!