I had an abortion for a very poor prenatal diagnosis. A deletion on my baby's 4th chromosome. I had *many* ultrasounds and blood tests, and you-name-it along the way to the amnio. It was all complete torture and every mama's worst nightmare.

I am a mother of three young children -- the decision to terminate was by far the most difficult and painful decision I have ever made in my life. There are no easy answers.

We had to travel to another state for the procedure, which only added another horrific layer to what was already a heart-wrenching trauma. I can only imagine what these bills and amendments are going to force women across the country to do, all in the name of making private medical decisions that they feel are the best for their families.

This was almost five years ago, and not one single day has gone by that I don't miss and grieve my little girl. Still, my husband and I stand by our decision and feel that it was the most compassionate one we could have made for our daughter and our other children. I cannot think of a more private matter than this -- a choice to be made by a woman and (possibly) her partner on the advice of *compassionate medical professionals,* not government wonks.

the same hypocrites that supposedly want to get the govt. out of your life are now legalizing the govt's ability to force you to undergo personally invasive equivalents of medical rape in certain situations.

What a bunch of fucking morons...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the saddest part of if all is that there are a bunch of presidential candidates currently running for office that would encourage THIS type of laws to pass nation-wide.
I feel sorry for all the women in VA that have to subject themselves to these type of XVII century legislation.

Just wait for the ultrasound law that says you have to have an ultrasound before you can have an abortion. For someone who is terminating for genetic reasons, that has got to be torture.

For someone who is terminating for any reason, this would be torture. As someone who had an abortion last summer, believe me, the kindest thing the doctor did for me was to turn the screen so there was no way i could see it, keep the sound off, and just look for the shortest moment possible so he could confirm and date the pregnancy. I don't want to go into the reasons why I had the abortion, but they were not related to genetic issues. And if I'd had to listen to a heartbeat and look at the ultrasound picture, it would not have changed my mind but it would have made an already torturous situation even more so. I'm so sick of all this talk about the war on Christianity. What we have here is a full-on war on women. No more, no less.

I am desperately waiting for a law that REQUIRES men to get a rectal exam to receive Viagra prescription. Or a full heart-health check, or a whatever... nope. nothing.
Have you ever noticed?

Anonymous wrote:the saddest part of if all is that there are a bunch of presidential candidates currently running for office that would encourage THIS type of laws to pass nation-wide.
I feel sorry for all the women in VA that have to subject themselves to these type of XVII century legislation.

Just wait for the ultrasound law that says you have to have an ultrasound before you can have an abortion. For someone who is terminating for genetic reasons, that has got to be torture.

Two little cells make a person. Wow. Forget that those cells need to implant into a host to survive. As much as I think the Roe decision is a mess, it got one thing right - how can it be a person if it can't survive without the host? I personally hate the idea of abortion as birth control, but there are health reasons for terminating. Now, we hosts are faced with being charged with not caring properly for the collection of cells. It's absurd.

As someone who had to deliver early because of sever pre-e, I really want to know how this type of law is put into practice. Would my OB have to get cleared by an ethics board while I'm about to have eclamptic seizures in order to get permission for the delivery?

the saddest part of if all is that there are a bunch of presidential candidates currently running for office that would encourage THIS type of laws to pass nation-wide.
I feel sorry for all the women in VA that have to subject themselves to these type of XVII century legislation.

It makes preggo chicks nothing but incubators. Hello Handmaid's Tale.

It's ridiculous!
I understand (even when I don't share) the views of people that want to make abortion illegal. I seriously do.
All I would want is a sensical debate of what's legal and illegal. Want to make abortion illegal? Go ahead and try. This personhood idiocity doesn't work to stop abortion and it makes all preggo chicks liable for anything that may happen to their fetuses (like preggo chicks are not already under a lot of pressure!)

Thanks for posting this. Why is this story not getting more press coverage?

See link below on what you can do to oppose HB1:

http://www.naralva.org/in-our-state/personhood.shtml

Look at resolve.org they have a good explanataion. it is frightening!

This law is so ridiculous that it wouldn't stand a chance, no matter the fanatism behind it.
If they want to consider all fetuses as people, they would be embroiled in these scenarios:
-you can claim a fetus as a dependant because is a person
-you can't travel abroad with a fetus because it requires a passaport and the feds won't issue one
-you can't be incarcerated if you are pregnant because the government would be unlawfully incarcerating an innocent individual.
-the fetus will be counted in the census (because it's a person) affecting districting
-the fetus will have to be given a social security and a name because it's a person
-the fetus will be able to claim social security benefits (See above)
-the fetus will have to have its own health insurance
-the fetus will be able to inherit property, goods and receive services

SEE? when anyone brings up the "personhood" debate, you can reply with any of the examples above. the idea of fetuses as people is so ridiculous that it's going to make me go into labor with fury.
For all those that are pro-life, i have NOTHING against you... but pass wise laws that are not going to embroil the world in a legal mess.

Well, pretty much pregnant women no longer matter.

I'm currently in my second tri and thankfully seem to be having a healthy and normal pregnancy.

I was pretty shocked to learn about Virginia's Personhood Amendment that just passed the House yesterday. The VA senate is next to look at and possibly pass it.
Does anyone know the effects of this on women who are pregnant? I think there is an additional bill being considered that would give criminal penalties to people who terminate pregnancies.

As someone who left open the idea of terminating my own pregnancy if there was something wrong, I am pretty shocked about this.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57378006/va-house-passes-personhood-abortion-bill/

This is probably the wrong forum about this, but does anyone have a quick website that centralizes opposition to this?