Full Frontal Feminism_ A Young Women's Guide to Why Feminism Matters - Jessica Valenti [31]
Mandatory waiting periods, for example, are one of the most common abortion restrictions. Basically, they make women who want an abortion wait a couple of days, supposedly to “think it over.” Sounds harmless, but not only does it assume that a woman who wants an abortion hasn’t already thought it over a great deal, it also puts a huge burden on poor women or women who live in rural areas. Most people can’t take more than one day off work, and for women who live hundreds of miles away from the nearest abortion clinic, this is more than just a pain in the ass. But that’s why the restriction is there; they’re hoping women will be so put out that they won’t bother coming back.
Eleven states are trying to ban abortion outright. South Dakota was already successful in doing so. Thankfully, after a massive pro-choice effort, the law was put on the 2006 ballot and voted down. But it was close. The big reason voters couldn’t stand for it? South Dakotan lawmakers wanted to make it so even women who are raped or victims of incest couldn’t get abortions. So, you might ask yourself, when is it okay to get an abortion? Listen to what South Dakota Senator Bill Napoli thinks (and try not to be too grossed out by his enthusiasm):
❂ A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated.6
Hear that, girls? If you want to get an abortion in South Dakota, you better make sure you’ve been raped real bad. And no hymen, no deal. As disgusting as this quote is (from a senator, no less), it pretty much sums up the anti-sex sentiment behind those who are fighting to end choice.
What kills me is that there’s no shame in their game. Anti-sexers like Napoli will straight up say nasty-ass things but simultaneously claim they are looking out for women’s best interest.
But hypocritical holier-than-thou attitudes aren’t exactly new. The members of the anti-sex, anti-choice movement are supercareful about the language they use when talking about abortion, to make it seem like they are the “moral” ones. They use words like “life,” “religious,” and “family,” but all the while they’re thinking about virgins getting ass-raped. Lovely.
Lawmakers in Alabama, for example, introduced an abortion ban similar to the one in South Dakota; it would have no exception for rape and incest. Alabama Senator Hank Erwin said, “I thought if South Dakota can do it, Alabama ought to do it, because we are a family-friendly state.”7 Yeah, ’cause nothing says “family-friendly” like bullying rape and incest victims. Using sweet-as-pie language to describe forcing women to keep their rapists’ babies—real classy.
Only one in five women knows about emergency contraception, and one third of those women confuse EC with RU-486, the abortion Pill.
The more extreme anti-choice folks who protest outside abortion clinics do the same kind of thing. For example, they’ll say that they provide “sidewalk counseling,” when what they’re actually doing is screaming in women’s faces that they’re murderers as they walk into a clinic.
And it’s not just the appropriation of “friendly” language, it’s the fact that the anti-choice movement tells straight-up lies. And that so many people believe them.
Anti-Choice Lies
THE MYTH OF “PARTIAL-BIRTH” ABORTION
Repeat after me: There is no such thing as “partial-birth” abortion. You won’t find it referenced in any medical journals or texts. It’s a fictitious term created by anti-choicers in an attempt to ban all abortions. Anti-choicers will claim that the laws they’re trying to pass will simply ban a late-term abortion procedure called intact dilation and extraction (D&E). This is a procedure that’s hardly ever used, and when it is, it’s generally because the fetus wouldn’t be able to survive outside the womb, or because the mother’s life is in danger.