A dreadful backward step

The Atlantic magazine has produced a couple of interesting articles on this. One is that it may backfire on Republicans. They suggest there are a number of voters who’ve previously voted Republican whilst holding their noses but that this clamp down on women’s rights will send them into the arms of the Democrats.

Elsewhere, an article suggested this manoeuvre of getting private citizens to do the work for you could have unexpected consequences. This Texan law doesn’t make abortion illegal, it simply gives citizens the right to sue abortion-facilitators. The same legislation could be used for gun laws. A State needn’t ban the possession of firearms but it could open the way for private citizens to sue anyone who possesses a gun. Now that would worth doing.

Reducing women's rights is one of the early sign of danger of fascism.

Women will have abortions, history provides the evidence. The choice is obvious, it can be done in regulated, assured, hygienic, safe, non-exploitative conditions or not.
Our personal feelings and views can only apply to self.
With surrogacy and trafficking Texas has opened a nasty door. If a baby is not registered at birth, s/he does not exist and a death certificate is not required, nor can a missing person report be made. The implications are terrifying because as they say, follow the money!

I'm sure you are right Doodledog. But it seems we never learn. I have a strong sense of time going backwards at the moment.

Goodness knows, but what sort of person would do that for a living?

Actually, it's probably the sort of thing that steals up on employees, so you might start as a basic 'general' civil servant or health admin worker, who gradually moves into a role in the department of WhateverItIs, and the Accuse forms are just some of the ones you process, until there is a chance of promotion to supervisor at an extra dollar an hour, so you take it, and the next thing you know it's been re-organised so that Accusations and Prosecutions have become a department of its own. Five years later you are leading that, and there's a certain satisfaction in being able to make decisions about other people's lives - I mean you're a reasonable person after all, and some people would be much more draconian.

It's important that you keep your stats up, as some of those younger people are ambitious and snapping at your heels. You really have to come up with new initiatives to impress your boss at the monthly meeting of departments heads, so you wrack your brains and come up with ideas to turn neighbours against one another and let them settle feuds at a stroke. . . .

I imagine Texas will loose people to other states over time - unless they decide to cut themselves off from the rest of the world. Of course, the wealth holders will be able to get round this. The poor and the extremely poor will be the ones who pay, in all ways, for this law.

It’s shocking enough that this is happening in Texas because women will then turn to illegal methods of abortion, but what is really chilling is the 10,000 dollar ‘reward’ to anyone who reports on this.

I wonder what they will call the new department running this. The one processing the payments to those who accuse and take women, and any man the "informer" believes has helped, to court. The Stasi and The Eyes have been taken. I wonder what they will come up with?

The coil has also been the cause of a lot of gynaecological problems Rosie51
I think this law is draconian and as someone else said I hope the state will be providing care for the unwanted and disabled children born as a result of this. To say nothing of mental heath care for the mothers.

I’d actually argue that abortion on demand gives plenty of men ‘freedom’, gets many of them off the hook - so to speak.
How many men tell women to ‘just get rid of it’ knowing it’s easily accessible and safe.
Of course there will always be some very desperate women who will seek an abortion even if it’s not legal, but the numbers we see today are not all extremely desperate women. I’ve heard of women aborting because the baby would ruin their holiday plans.
Many women are coerced into them by men.
Probably why some women have voted the way they have.

It’s so archaic, no doubt brought to law mainly by men.
Abortion is not a nice procedure to go through but nor is having a child you don’t want or are unable to care for properly.

Regarding Texas, I guess it’s up to them what rules they have regarding abortion, who are we to tell them what to do?
Abortion is still illegal in some countries, with much tighter restrictions than ours in many others.
How can abortion up to 24 weeks *for any reason* be right?
I think the limit should be 12 weeks unless danger to mothers life or severe disability of the baby.

It should be remembered that the coil method of contraception stops (in almost all cases) the implantation of a fertilised ovum, which could equally be considered a termination. Even the `'mini pill" is designed to inhibit implantation of a fertilised ovum, should an ovum be released and fertilised.

Unborn babies older than hers have been aborted

There may be an argument for rethinking the time limits, but given that any pregnancy is a risk to a woman's life that must surely count too.

We need to question why, when contraception is so easily available, abortion is so common

The only contraception that is 100% is total abstinence from sex. Funny how men get a total pass in this area, despite being 50% responsible for the pregnancy. Perhaps strong penalties for men that accidentally impregnate women should be enacted??

Unless you are sterilised, no form of contraception is 100% foolproof. A split condom or an upset tummy while on the Pill can easily lead to pregnancy.

As others have said, women have had and will always have abortions. The question is whether we want them to be carried out in safe, hygienic circumstances or in shady, underground dives where women will die.

Doodledog It's awful. It really does feel like the world is moving backwards where women's rights are concerned. After years of making progress in many areas, it's like there's been a backlash, and we are being swept aside.

MaizieD What apalls me most about this is that some women must have voted for it...

I totally agree, women's rights have had a sledgehammer taken to them and some women have colluded in that destruction. Women must have autonomy over their own bodies. That anyone can be prepared to legislate that even a pregnancy that results from rape or incest is not grounds for termination beggars belief. It just confirms that females are the absolute bottom of the human pyramid. The 6 week limit is farcical, if that's your belief have the guts to outlaw terminations outright, it's cowardly to set a limit that is impossible to comply with.
I do observe however, that everyone seems quite happy with using women, girls, mother, she etc when discussing termination of a pregnancy, but if the pregnancy is to continue to term the wording changes to pregnant person, birthing parent etc on grounds of inclusivity. Why is inclusivity not needed around termination of pregnancy?
Full disclosure why I use the word termination. My first, much wanted, pregnancy was in danger for several months. Being signed off work for "potential abortion" was very distressing, albeit it was the correct medical term. Happy to report the pregnancy proceeded to term and delivery of a healthy chjild.

Just a thought. In the UK, when abortion was brought in, it was supposed to be only for certain limited cases. Last year, there were 575 abortions a day in England and Wales. There are pregnancies due to incest and rape but not, I hope, giving rise to 209,917 abortions a year. A woman has rights over her own body. But I question her rights over a vulnerable body with a heartbeat. A neighbour was strongly in favour of abortion until the day he was with his daughter when she lost her twins early in gestation and he saw what they looked like. Unborn babies older than hers have been aborted for cleft palate, club foot or for being the wrong sex. We need to question why, when contraception is so easily available, abortion is so common, even though such questioning is so quickly slapped down.

Am so upset to hear that this is happening in Texas. Women will continue to have abortions, regardless of whether they are legal or not. When you are desperate you will try anything. Shame on Texas.

Just awful, nearly, and the America has the cheek to talk about the treatment of women by the Taliban. They have also stopped funding abroad with family planning clinics that also offer abortions

You are right 70% Americans support a woman’s right to choose but 25 of the 50 states are already preparing to follow Texas - this is a state by state decision, not national. In his Eye.

There is also a possibility that the right to a home abortion (the woman is given the drugs and takes them in the comfort of her own home) may be ended in the UK. The Women's Equality Party is taking action to stop this www.womensequality.org.uk/at_home_abortion_action?utm_campaign=abortion_action_all_m_and_s&utm_medium=email&utm_source=womensequality

Maybe there should be severe penalties for a man who impregnates a woman. I also wonder why these people who are so keen on saving the life of a foetus can carry guns, with the potential to end the life of a fully functioning human. It has got nothing to do with Christianity.

love0c

While this has been passed in Texas, I can not see it spreading across America. The American's do not stand for their rights being taken away. Shame many people in this country don't feel the same. Texas may well suffer a backlash yet.

So many Americans, Texans, are anti abortion. They will be celebrating this while fighting wearing masks, with absolutely zero irony.

I think this is very sad, and feel for any person adversely affected by it!

ExaltedWombat The plan was for people to travel with the dogs. The animals were in the hold, the staff and any refugees who needed the seats were to travel on the plane. Foreign office delays meant this didn't happen.

Not sure how this connects with abortion in Texas though. I would certainly think that the people who donated for the plane would also be appalled at the new abortion law. I knew someone whose girlfriend bled out on a doorstep in the days before legal abortion and, however sad abortion is, her death ruined two families. The boyfriend never got over it.