Utah Takes a Step Backwards

A blog about how Utah Bill Criminalizes Miscarriage.Not pretty. And really, really sad. Why are women not people too?

quote:

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"This creates a law that makes any pregnant woman who has a miscarriage potentially criminally liable for murder," says Missy Bird, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Utah. Bird says there are no exemptions in the bill for victims of domestic violence or for those who are substance abusers. The standard is so broad, Bird says, "there nothing in the bill to exempt a woman for not wearing her seatbelt who got into a car accident."

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Such a standard could even make falling down stairs a prosecutable event, such as the recent case in Iowa where a pregnant woman who fell down the stairs at her home was arrested under the suspicion she was trying to terminate her pregnancy.

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Scary. The bill is such a great idea, but why is it specifically against pregnant women? Why not against whoever-attacks-the-baby?It doesn't make any sense. It's like making a law that if anyone is shot at with a gun that you purchased (regardless if it's in your possession or not), you are going to be held liable.Scratch that, it certainly does make sense considering the stupid religiously based patriarchal order that envelopes most of Utah.

O.M.F. (oh my FSM).What is this shit? It seems for every great advancement (be that human rights or science: something that takes us a step FORWARD), there is something sucking us back into darkane times (thank you Suidakra)?So now a mis-carriage is viewed the same as abortion? NEITHER are criminal acts.

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"Some people think God is an outsized, light-skinned male with a long white beard, sitting on a throne somewhere up there in the sky, busily tallying the fall of every sparrow. Othersfor example Baruch Spinoza and Albert Einsteinconsidered God to be essentially the sum total of the physical laws which describe the universe. I do not know of any compelling evidence for anthropomorphic patriarchs controlling human destiny from some hidden celestial vantage point, but it would be madness to deny the existence of physical laws."-Carl Sagan

The version of the story I read was even worse - they mentioned how few abortion doctors there are in Utah. A significant portion of women in need of an abortion need to travel more than 50 or even more than 100 miles to see a doctor, but on top of that they're required to be given anti-abortion propaganda and wait 24 hours before having the procedure done. And of course if you're a minor you'll require parental consent.So they make sure that getting an abortion is difficult, especially for a poor woman. Then they criminalize the acts of desperate women, without doing anything to give an easier alternative for those desperate acts.

Hi, Stile. I take it you've never been to Utah.Utahn men are the most whipped and henpecked men on the planet. I don't know how many times I had to suffer through a meeting, listening to men talk about how men are horrible, depraved human beings and women are perfect angels. (I wish we had a gag smiley on EvC).-----What really confuses is me is why a mostly right-wing legislature decided to pass a "big government" law like this. Clearly, their stance on this issue is more important than the principle behind their policies.

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-Bluejay (a.k.a. Mantis, Thylacosmilus)Darwin loves you.