This week the news from the war on women seemed to focus on the state's role in women's fertility and childbearing. The
New York Times ran an editorial on what can happen when government becomes involved in protecting fetuses, and more important, on some of the things that
have happened.
Then came news from India about women dying during a "sterilization camp" in the rural state of Chhattisgarh. India certainly has little to recommend its treatment of women, but I found the idea of a "sterilization camp" startling.
Add to this the fact that Arizona's Department of Health Services had harrassed a leading reproductive health advocate...
Reproductive Health I
One expected outcome of the midterm elections is more laws being passed to make abortion and birth control more difficult for women to access. Besides the obvious problems making it harder for women to get the health care they need, these laws often have unexpected side effects. Remember Marlize Munoz, the woman who was kept on life support by a hospital despite her family's wishes and her own previous opinion, to protect her fetus, until a court intervened? Did you know that several states have laws that make it illegal to discontinue life support for a pregnant woman? I didn't.
Ethically, the problem comes from perceiving a pregnant woman and her fetus as two separate individuals with different interests. No longer is a woman considered competent to make decisions that affect the health of both; in court cases, the fetus is often represented by its own attorney and/or guardian.
Women have been forced to deliver by caesarean section, or have been punished for refusing surgery in case of stillbirth. In 1987 Angela Carder, a pregnant woman diagnosed with terminal cancer, was forced, against her wishes and those of her family and doctors, to deliver by caesarean. The baby lived for two hours after surgery; Angela lived for two days.
More recently, a woman was charged with murder for refusing a caesarean when one of the twins she delivered was stillborn. In the height of absurdity, a woman was charged with drug trafficking to a minor because the drugs she took were "delivered" to her fetus through the umbilical cord. Pregnant women have been charged with attempted murder for attempting suicide.
The Times editorial said, with justice, that the personhood of pregnant women is being discounted and taken away.
Reproductive Health II
As of Friday morning, 14 women had died and more than 20 were in critical condition after surgery in a "sterilization camp" in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, the result of rat poison in some of the medicine used.
Sterilization has been India's chief way of fighting out-of-control population growth. In the 1970's, efforts focused on men, but after meeting resistance and protest, efforts moved to women; now more than 75% of surgical sterilizations are performed on women. Other forms of birth control are more difficult to distribute in rural areas, and there are cultural issues as well. It's more costly in terms of money to promote education and work for the changes that come with education, especially of girls; I don't suppose the government or the state governments consider the human cost. Women do die from sterilization surgery, though perhaps not this dramatically, leaving families without a mother.
Though India no longer sets quotas, some states still do, and there are incentives for doctors and for patients. In this case, the sterilizations were performed in a closed hospital under dangerous and unsanitary conditions, with patients on mattresses on the hallway floor before and after surgery.
The Guardian's coverage included analysis and commentary on the program, saying that states with greater education and economic strength show falling birthrates, but that sterilization costs less money. These poor states have larger numbers of tribal and lowest caste people, so there is also a racial, even a eugenic, component to the program.
Reproductive Health III
Here in Arizona, a law recently passed that allows warrantless searches of clinics where abortions are performed was used to harass Arizona NARAL executive director Kat Sabine. She was threatened with a search of her home after an anonymous tip that she was providing health services there.
Some news about getting emergency contraception at low prices here and in this note from my email:
Affordable and accessible emergency contraception is a major public health need and important steps have been taken recently towards bringing it within reach. One of those steps was the production of the AfterPill TM, which came out this summer and retailed on Amazon.com, one of the nation's largest retailers, for $25, with flat-rate shipping included. [1]
On October 31st, Amazon.com abruptly stopped selling the new AfterPill without a legitimate explanation, and now only offers the more expensive Plan B One-Step. As of this morning, Plan B One-Step starts at $38 on Amazon.com, and can retail for $40-$50 at local pharmacies
I have been unable to find a link to the Amazon petition, but you can contact Amazon directly.
Short Takes
A European scientist involved in the comet landingwore a shirt with pictures of "sexy" women caricatures for his interview.
Men lament the end of civilization if we keep having women in the workplace.
Congratulations to all the winners of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but in this post especially to the women, Isabel Allende, Mildred Dresselhaus, Ethel Kennedy, Suzan Harjo, Patsy Takemoto Mink, Meryl Streep, and Marlo Thomas. There are brief bios at the link.
Elizabeth Warren joins the leadership of the Senate Democratic caucus, as does Amy Klobuchar. With current members Patty Murray and Debbie Stabenow, there will now be four women in the leadership.
Alma Adams became the 100th woman currently in Congress.
Time magazine included "feminism" on its list of words to be banned in the coming year. There is a petition demanding it be taken off the list. Please sign.