Not to be outdone by their neighbors to the North, the state of Alabama has chosen to go follow in Virginia's attempt to probe into the uteruses of its female citizens. And I do mean probe.
Alabama Bill Could Require Women To Undergo Invasive Ultrasound To Convince Them ‘To Keep The Child’
Not content with existing misogynistic provisions already on the books:
When a woman in Alabama seeks an abortion procedure, she already has to sign that her doctor has performed an ultrasound and that she either viewed the ultrasound image or rejected seeing it.
which galls me to no end, that invasion of privacy and interference with a private medical decision that should be between a woman and her doctor ( hmmm.... who's always going on about government intrusion in medical decisions?) is insufficient for the all powerful male Oz wannabes in Alabama.
The dishonorable State Senator Clay Scofield (R):
is pushing SB 12, a bill in the Alabama legislature that would mandate the physician “to perform an ultrasound, provide verbal explanation of the ultrasound, and display the images to the pregnant woman before performing an abortion.” The physician could also require the woman to submit to a transvaginal ultrasound — “in which a probe is inserted into the vagina, and then moved around until an ultrasound image is produced” — if she or he determines it necessary.
See Clay doesn't think that women reach this decision without really realizing what's involved. So he's just trying to be helpful and all.
Though the bill states a woman can look away from the ultrasound image, Scofield wants her to see it.
“So she sees that this is not just a clump of cells as she is told,” he said. “She will see the shape of the infant. And hopefully, she will choose to keep the child.”
I wonder if we could make Clay look in a mirror long enough, he'd see he's an asshole? No, I don't think that would work either.
I am hopeful that Rachel Maddow will follow and highlight this proposed abomination just as closely as she did the proposed Virginia law. I suspect her team's already doing so since they have verbiage of this insane provision from the bill up on The Maddow Blog:
Any person upon whom an abortion has been performed without compliance with this act, the father of the unborn child who was the subject of the abortion, or the grandparent of an unborn child may maintain an action against the person who performed the abortion in knowing or reckless violation of this act for actual and punitive damages....
Got that? This bill proposes that if a woman who has the LEGAL right to have an abortion doesn't have the ultrasound as described above, then not only the "father" but the "grandparent" can seek actual and punitive damages. So theoretically, you could have 5 people ( father, and two sets of grandparents) going after a woman for making a legal decision.
Way to reduce government and reduce frivolous lawsuits GOP.
But wait:
In every civil or criminal proceeding or action brought under this act, the court shall rule whether the anonymity of any female upon whom an abortion has been performed or attempted to be performed shall be preserved from public disclosure if she does not give her consent to such disclosure.
Not only can she be sued, she can unwillingly have her name revealed for public shaming! Welcome to the
Hester Prynne Public Shaming Act. My we've come far as a country.
Here's the Bill in all its infamy:
Alabama SB 12: The Right To Know And See Act
I am never going to be able to change my signature line. Ever.