Question #1: When is a woman who's not pregnant actually pregnant?
Answer: When she lives in Arizona.
I know, I know. You're wondering what the hell I'm talking about. Actually, so am I. The non-sense on this one is making me crazy. It's a dizzying logic that has led the Arizona House of Representatives, Senate and now Governor Jan Brewer to approve legislation that would place the start date for a woman's pregnancy at the first day of her last menstrual cycle. Got it? So while you still have your period and haven't ovulated or conceived or maybe even had sex ever, you're pregnant.
Why? You may be banging your fist into your forehead and asking yourself why would Arizona lawmakers decide to fly in the face of simple biology. But then, if you think about the rash of laws and the outpouring of moral folks who feel the need to legislate over women's bodies and reproduction, you have your answer. Abortion.
House Bill 2036 was just signed by the governor this afternoon. It will prohibit abortion after 20 weeks (except in emergency cases). The new math, biology-defying pregnant before conception statute effectively limits the time frame for women to have an abortion to 18 weeks into the real pregnancy. Unfortunately, there are a lot of genetic tests that have to be done at 16 to 20 weeks. Then, there is a 10 day to 2 week wait for the results. There's no easy way to think about this, but this law means that women in Arizona could be forced to give birth to a child with a life-threatening, deforming disease such as spina bifida, Tay-Sachs or trisomy 18.
Let's look at a disease like Tay-Sachs. It's a genetic condition. There's no cure. Amniocentesis reveals the disease. A baby born with Tay-Sachs has a life expectancy of 4-5 years and the only treatment is to make the child comfortable as the disease progresses. According to Wikipedia, the child [with Tay-Sachs] becomes blind, deaf, unable to swallow, atrophied and paralytic. Arizona lawmakers have to know that the timeline they've created makes an excruciatingly painful situation much, much worse for everyone involved. I'm trying to decide if it's more shockingly ignorant or self-righteous.
Some who favor this law are claiming that it protects women. I'm not sure how that logic works. It seems to follow the same rule that claims every woman in Arizona who has her period is pregnant.
Question #2: How do we stop laws like this from stripping away women's need to reproductive freedom?
Answer: I really wish I knew. There has to be a way to civil discourse. There has to be a way to protect our rights.
I spoke with Cynde Cerf at Planned Parenthood in Arizona. She encouraged people to keep an eye on AZ House Bill 2625. Bill 2625 could force women to provide proof to employers that they're taking birth control for a medical reason such as ovarian cysts, rather than to prevent pregnancy. This bill has received national attention. The Arizona Senate passed the bill and it's headed to Caucus and then onto the House for a vote.
Here's what you can do:
Check out the Planned Parenthood Arizona site for info on getting involved locally.
Become a member of NARAL.
Support Arizona List. We are "a grassroots donor network supporting pro-choice Democratic women running for office in Arizona and we want you to join us!"
More questions coming soon...
(This article has been reprinted from www.betweenparents.org.)
Follow Deborah Stambler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@betweenparents
As for the more substantive issue, technology may not always be accurate. However, I was referring, not to ultrasound testing (which has a greater margin of error), but amniocentesis. There's a different level of accuracy. Amniocentesis is more than 99% accurate and additional testing can be done for specific genetic disorders, according to the Cleveland Clinic and other sources.
I'm glad for your family that your grandchild is thriving. Enjoy the toddler years. I wish this were the case for every family.
I am vehemently opposed to this law, but with that being said, I think there is a major problem if we are to refer people who disagree with as us "crazies" or "whakadoos." No matter the abject falsity of their claims, they are still citizens of the United States with a right to their opinions. If they are true zealots, then nothing you say or do will effect their opinion. But if they have a deeply held belief that, for instance, abortion is immoral or that a fetus is a life, we can disagree them; we ought not insult them for having a belief that we do not share. To attempt to influence and support the election of officials who agree with you is to take part in the political process of our Republic. The Religious Right has done so very well; so must their opponents.
That was back before the easy availability of home pregnancy tests, but I'm wondering if the AZ lawmakers plan to take those off of the shelves.
Ignorant, hateful and reprehensible.
If they do not fight back, soon and decisively, they will lose many hard won rights and be forced back into the dark ages before contraception, the vote and equal rights.
Women could end the Republican domination by the extreme religious right if they get organized and VOTE.
The current threat of Republican policies at State and Federal levels to ALL American women is REAL.
Time for all women to step up and stop this BS from taking root, before it is too late.
(BTW, evil as he was, he would be too liberal for the current crowd.)
Sitting out the vote in 2010 is what led to this madness.
That is the simple and true scientific explanation for the endless series of "wha' the heck" that comes out of Arizona legislature - they think for only 3 months of the year. Obviously, not enough time to do it right.
Does that give a girl a "pass"?
Then the taxpayers of AZ will suck it up.