one woman's experience with Texas's new ultrasound and "right to know" law

[Anonymous]

one woman's experience with Texas's new ultrasound and "right to know" law:

http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/the-right-not-to-know

I imagine this story will be playing out across many states over the coming years.

[Anonymous]

Just awful in every way.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Thanks for posting.

[Anonymous]

Almost as bad as making a person watch "roots" before they purchase a slave.... And a slave is only 3/5 of a person, not a whole fetus !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Almost as bad as making a person watch "roots" before they purchase a slave.... And a slave is only 3/5 of a person, not a whole fetus !

Uh, you just said that a fetus is more of a person than a slave. Wanna start walking that one back?

[Anonymous]

Good point ..... They are both full defensless humans preyed upon by monsters.

[Anonymous]

I feel badly for this woman. Without a doubt that is a horrific thing to go through.

Personally? i am more upset with the state of TX that hadn't properly advised providers of the excpetions to this law.

If they had, she would have been able to avoid one of the more difficult parts of this ordeal.

the right to know law I believe is good in principal. too often abortion is used as a form of birth control and I believe that is wrong. I believe that this law is designed to help mitigate this and unfortunatly this woman fell in the grey area and the providers who worked on her were not informed. That in lies the real problem. No one is preyed up on by monsters in this scenario.

[Anonymous]

Why were her feet in stirrups for the ultrasound?

[Anonymous]

This article is clearly an agenda driven set-up. The author had just had two ultra-sounds that same day. Both doctors could have certifird that and yet no one asks the question. Informed consent is vital. As women, we should be strong enough to demand it and handle it. I am woman, hear me roar... or whine? Come on, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This article is clearly an agenda driven set-up. The author had just had two ultra-sounds that same day. Both doctors could have certifird that and yet no one asks the question. Informed consent is vital. As women, we should be strong enough to demand it and handle it. I am woman, hear me roar... or whine? Come on, people.

The clinic is required to administer an ultrasound. The law does not provide for the exception you suggested, and since there were no regulations or interpretations available, there is no legal basis for the doctors at the clinic to do what you said.

The "setup" claim from conservatives is really getting worn out. The Georgetown law student said who she was and who she works for. The lesbian was not using her mother's funeral to create a political event. And this woman who had a genetically deformed child did not deliberately make herself more miserable in order to post a story to the web.

[Anonymous]

I can only hope and pray that women vote in droves this Fall and FIRE these right wing extremists, who are hell bent on destroying this country! I've just about had enough of their nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can only hope and pray that women vote in droves this Fall and FIRE these right wing extremists, who are hell bent on destroying this country! I've just about had enough of their nonsense.

I can only hope that the sane members of the GOP (I am sure there are many) will stop allowing themselves to be held hostage by the lunatic right and realize that it's the other way around -- there is nowhere else for the wingnuts to go, so the GOP should go back to classic conservatism, and drop the religious extremism.

[Anonymous]

Ok, to add my two cents to this ultrasound-abortion debate but on a totally different topic:

I had an abortion in CO YEARS ago and I was given a transvaginal ultrasound as part of the procedure. I don't know what the big deal is. I didn't object to it because I figured the doctor needs to determine the age of the fetus in order to determine whether or not I can take the abortion pill. Sometimes the abdominal ultrasound is not accurate enough to determine the age of the fetus. I just wanted to clear the air with that.

What this woman went through IS horrible and I feel very, very sorry for her. However, I do think the choice to have an abortion is something that is rough and your skin has to get thicker for a bit. The world is not supposed to bend to make you feel better, you need to protect yourself against the world.

[Anonymous]

the abortion debate will never go away. it is the slavery debate of the 21st century. everybody in their heart knows that abortion is nasty and wrong thats why there is guilt about it and an ultra-sound reinforces the guilt of squashing out life and turning the womb into a death chamber. on the other hand we are fallen people and when faced with difficult situations we will use any excuse to squirm away from hardship even if it means abusing a defenseless person As a male it is easy for me to say these facts but I readily admit as a fallen person I would probably try to squirm out of it and dump it on the baby too.
It was the same with slavery. people knew it was nasty and wrong but they were not about to kill themselves in the hot southern sun working a plantation without machinery. I guarantee anybody here supporting abortion would deinately not kill themselves in an alabama fieled if they could get a slave to do it. I'm sure they would call the slave "not a real person" as well to ease the guilt...just like "fetus","potential person", etc....admit it we are all crappy and selfish, thats why we need God. You better hope and pray that God isn't as mean and gross as we are when you die and are helpless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, to add my two cents to this ultrasound-abortion debate but on a totally different topic:

I had an abortion in CO YEARS ago and I was given a transvaginal ultrasound as part of the procedure. I don't know what the big deal is. I didn't object to it because I figured the doctor needs to determine the age of the fetus in order to determine whether or not I can take the abortion pill. Sometimes the abdominal ultrasound is not accurate enough to determine the age of the fetus. I just wanted to clear the air with that.

What this woman went through IS horrible and I feel very, very sorry for her. However, I do think the choice to have an abortion is something that is rough and your skin has to get thicker for a bit. The world is not supposed to bend to make you feel better, you need to protect yourself against the world.

So, you had a transvaginal ultrasound because your doctor decided it was medically necessary to preserve your health in your case based on his/her medical expertise and your specific biological circumstances, and you agreed. You really don't see the difference between that and the state deciding, with NO medical expertise and regardless of your specific biological circumstances, that you're going to have a transvaginal ultrasound, whether you agree or not, not for your health but to shame you for having an abortion?

And just because you already consented to an earlier ultrasound doesn't mean you shouldn't have the right to consent to all future ultrasounds. FYI, just because you have sex with one man doesn't mean you can't decide not to have sex with another man. Or even that same man again later that night.