As published here, the House of Representatives in Ohio is slated to introduce H.B. 287, a bill that purports to empower would-be fathers of unborn children in abortion decisions.
Text of the bill is here.
Sponsored by 6 Republicans and 1 Democrat, the bill contains alarming language that is nothing short of unconstitutional. Regardless of its alleged intent to give men more of a say in parental decisions, it reads more like a draconian method to continue to victimise women, specifically survivors of abuse, incest and rape.
The text of this bill is clear: No father? No abortion.
As a survivor myself, living in Ohio, the text of this particular addition brought me to near-tears of rage:
A copy of a police report or a complaint, indictment, information, or other court document that gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of rape or incest.
Never mind that it may not even make it past debate, or that such legislation would face severe challenge in the courts. It goes without saying that this bill was designed to cause trouble. NARAL and other pro-choice groups have already spoken out against this bill, which has received little national press.
For my part, this bill stirs up a lot of emotional reaction. It begs the question of whether these politicians really understand the mindset of a victim, what it is like to try and report such a crime. Can they ever really comprehend a woman's state of mind after the worst imaginable violation has been committed against you? To have to approach strangers and relive the horror of the experience over and over, for the edification of the police, the psychiatrists, the doctors, and to be poked and prodded for evidence? Do they ever consider the emotional carnage, the shame and guilt - perpetuated by their own arcane societal expectations - associated with the act of even consensual sex?
It is a horrifying enough experience as an adult. How can they possibly hope to empathise with the teenager being repeatedly assaulted by a member of her own family, who cannot report it because she knows, deep down, that it is her own fault, that to do so will tear her family apart?
How can they understand?
They don't. But I intend to write to all these sponsors myself, and try. Whether it's a political move or not, this bill as it stands serves nobody while it assures the campaign finances of the "moral majority".