So, you guys! I totally suck and haven’t written for two months (or more? Who knows! Whatevs). I’ve been doing important things though, yo! Being a senior is hard, don’t let the masses fool you. Balancing school, relationships, and the obligatory social stuff (because Lord knows sometimes all I want to do is hibernate in pajamas and watch Parks and Recreation– I’m such a quirky recluse, right?!) is supremely hard when you are trying to fathom that your years of socially constructed hierarchies and moderately disconcerting bouts of drinking are coming to a sad-ass close. This impending doom of reality is not the only thing taking a toll on me though, ladies. This Virginia ultrasound abortion bill is actually giving me night terrors.
Now before some of you get up in arms about my attack on pro-lifers (or, how I prefer to call them because it’s a free country and all: anti-choicers) I want to preface this piece with my firm belief that everyone, especially women, should be open to all aspects of discourse that centers on women’s health and women’s bodies. We are women, united we should stand, so stop snickering and hating me and hear me out. It’s good to hear out all sides! Though, arguably, you might be insane to support this bill.
Basically, this bill (to be voted on this THURSDAY; keep your eyes peeled and your legs closed…for now) would require all women seeking an abortion to undergo a vaginal ultrasound (issued by a SCARY, ALIEN PROBE…AAAAH) and then wait a full 24 hours afterword before obtaining the said abortion. So my argument here goes way beyond whether life begins at conception and all that heavy, icky stuff that leads me to spew out hating words toward people who feel the need to post fetus imagery all over my campus in hopes of scaring me straight…exhale. What I argue is that this is a potentially state-sanctioned way to shame and degrade women who simply want to embody a sense of bodily agency that is currently protected by the law. Not only would these women be violated with a device too uncomfortably similar to something, oh, I don’t know, PHALLIC, maybe?– These women would also be forced to look at the image of the mass of cells they may or may not believe to be a person, and then reconsider for a full 24 hours the procedure that they ALREADY deemed ultimately necessary. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that most of these women probably don’t take abortions lightly (as opposed to the common evangelist lore of loose women who have a penchant for physically and emotionally-draining contraceptive measures) and that they’ve grappled, long and hard, with the physical and emotional consequences of going through this procedure. Should our state pass a bill, then, that spits on women’s emotional turmoil and opts, instead, to induce guilt and psychological trauma to a procedure THAT PROBABLY ALREADY COMES WITH ALL OF THAT?
And please don’t let me exclude the effects this has on the women who opt for abortions without qualms about it, because it is, by law, their right that is at stake here. And to add insult onto a violation of rights, there’s the *ucking alien probe, you guys. That thing is FREAKY.
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So, where was I? Oh yes. Shaming. This culture is big on shaming women. We shame women into not eating, into opting for surgery, into not embracing their sexuality or their orientation, and now, into opting out of a procedure that the law currently protects. Even if you don’t believe in pro-choice, you should believe in the law. And if you think this bill isn’t a form of deterring women from enacting a right, then you are maladjusted (AH, GABI. REMAIN ZEN. REMAIN OPEN-MINDED. BREATHE).
But I can’t. I can’t let people try to talk me into believing any sort of reasoning behind this law. It is a medically unnecessary procedure that is backed by a very specific agenda. And that, my friends is super, duper messy. I hate it. I feel angry. I kind of want to cry. But all I can do is trust in the effectiveness of the protestors standing in silent resilience at the Richmond capitol as they present Governor Bob McDonnell (Bob, what do you know about lady parts?! C’mon, man) with a list of endless signatures that oppose such a derogatory bill. Dare I say, discuss in the comments section below?