The “Anti-Woman” Health Amendment
When I was a senior in college in the late 80’s, a group of my college and high school friends got in our cars and caravaned down to Washington DC from our assorted schools in upstate NY just so we could take part in an historic march on Washington for women’s rights. It was about not overturning Roe v. Wade, keeping abortion legal, keep the power of the right to choose in the hands of each and every woman, keeping government out of a woman’s body.
Now, however you feel on the topic of abortion, that is your right to feel that way and your opinion. But your feelings do not necessarily reflect the feelings of millions of other women who each have different circumstances to deal with in their lives to make them decide differently than you. Keeping a woman’s health, well-being, prevention education and access to services first and foremost is what is our legal right in this country and it should stay that way. One size does not fit all.
Here in my state of Colorado, there is some legislation – Amendment 48 -”Anti Women’s Health Amendment” that managed to pass to be allowed on our voting ballot in November.
From NARAL Colorado:
“For the first time in US history, Colorado voters will decide the issue of personhood in November’s general election. Proposed amendment 48, “Definition of a Person,” qualified for the ballot last Thursday. This dangerous amendment stands to ban not only all abortions but everyday forms of birth control. We know that when Coloradans get the facts, they will SAY NO to Amendment 48.
We are up against powerful, anti-women conservatives who want Roe v. Wade overturned and access to birth control compromised. They will spare no expense to see the job finished.”
All I can say to this is, “WTF? Twenty years later and we still have to fight for our rights”? “Bite me” is what I’d really like to tell the “anti-women conservatives” who want to take away my right to choose what is best for me as a woman.
The Denver Post has a great article on this topic and they too are very against this ridiculous proposed amendment.
From the article:
“Amendment 48 specifies that the egg be considered a “person” in the eyes of the law even before it is implanted in the uterus. That means, effectively, that those forms of birth control that prevent such implantation would be classified as homicide under the proposal.
Even without the use of drugs, many eggs just naturally fail to implant in the uterus. Likewise, many eggs are implanted only to result in a miscarriage in the early days or weeks of pregnancy — often before the woman is even aware she is pregnant. Should a woman who suffers a miscarriage be charged with negligent homicide because she failed to protect a fertilized egg she may not have even known she carried? Should a man who fertilized an egg be entitled to file a civil lawsuit against a woman who miscarries, charging her with the wrongful death of his week-old fertilized egg”?
This proposed amendment, in my opinion, is f*cking stupid – period. As a woman who has suffered 2 miscarriages, I can tell you that it’s no picnic and there is thought that goes into what is lost, what has changed in your life, etc. Should my husband sue me now for unintentionally killing our embryos? Even if a woman needed an abortion for health reasons, she would feel the loss, there is recovery time, etc. It doesn’t go unnoticed. Should we punish that woman even more?
With so much going on in the world around us, food prices soaring, tons of unwanted kids in foster care and orphanages – malnourished and sickly and no one to love them – should we keep adding to that? Just some food for thought.
I hope my fellow Coloradans who read this join me in voting NO this coming November and spread this message to your networks. Really, who wants to approve the “Anti-Woman” Health Amendment? Doesn’t that title itself say it all?
June 05 2008 01:03 pm | Health and Mel and activism and feminism and government and news and parenting and society and special events
