The State of the Well-Regulated Ovaries

Guest Opinion

Missouri’s lone women’s health clinic that provides abortions is under regulatory attack. The doctors there have been ordered to perform medically unnecessary internal pelvic exams on women and girls seeking abortions. This amounts to state-mandated sexual assault. The idea is the brainchild of the state health director, Dr. Randall Williams, an OB-GYN — in other words, someone who should know better. The doctors at the clinic announced last week they will not comply with the order.
 
Michigan similarly has a history of attempting to mandate the sexual assault of women seeking an abortion. Republican lawmakers have thrice introduced legislation (in 2012, 2013, and 2015) to require a transvaginal ultrasound probe prior to an abortion. They cleverly couched the demand in stealthy language, saying that clinics must use the most advanced imaging available — which is an internal probe. All of these measures failed to become law.
 
A couple weeks ago, Michigan Sen. Ed McBroom introduced a “fetal heartbeat” bill intended to make abortions illegal after about six weeks — which is only two weeks after a missed period. Gestational age is measured from the first day of the last period. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vowed to veto the legislation should it reach her desk.
 
It’s all about the optics in the Lone Star state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that bans municipalities from doing business with Planned Parenthood. The law prevents cities and counties from entering into lease and tax agreements with the nonprofit health provider. The vast majority of services provided by the organization have nothing to do with abortion, and many of the clinics don’t even offer that service.
 
Republicans take swipes at Planned Parenthood as a matter of sport. They understand that many of their conservative constituents are woefully misinformed about what the health provider actually does. A mendacious rumor is alive and well claiming that abortions are rampant in these clinics and that baby parts are being sold on the black market. Republicans have fanned the flames of this spurious claim to rally their base.
 
A kind of madness seems to be gripping our nation’s state houses. Kate Gilmore, the United Nations deputy high commissioner for human rights, blasted states for violating women’s reproductive rights, calling it “torture,” saying “this is gender-based violence against women, no question … It’s a deprivation of a right to health.” Those are the kinds of words typically directed at dictatorial regimes.
 
A recent NPR/PBS/Marist poll found that 77 percent of Americans support Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. That figure is widely bolstered by Republicans who support abortion rights by 59 percent. Only 13 percent of those polled wish to see Roe overturned.
 
Given the overwhelming support for women’s reproductive rights, what could these GOP lawmakers be thinking? A total of 27 abortion bans and severe restrictions have been enacted in 12 states this year alone. Nearly 40 percent of all restrictions since Roe became the law in 1973 have occurred in the past eight years. It’s mostly middle-aged men writing these laws, and they appear to be increasingly emboldened to legislate away a women’s right to choose.
 
Previously, state legislatures used a ploy fittingly termed TRAP laws — targeted regulation of abortion providers — to restrict access to abortion. But now, with justice Brett Kavanaugh on the high court, state lawmakers have doubled down on the assault on women’s health. They are passing truly egregious legislation designed to spark a Supreme Court challenge in hopes of overturning Roe. These new laws have little to do with pro-life efforts, and they are typically mired in a complete ignorance of reproductive health.
 
Lest we forget, abortion remains legal across the nation. Litigation will stave off most of these new restrictive laws. However, for far too many women, reproductive healthcare is out of reach because, due to onerous regulatory burdens, it’s simply not available where they live.
 
Illinois is among a handful of states that are a candle in the dark for women’s rights. Its Reproductive Health Act was signed into law last month. The act codifies a woman’s right to exercise autonomy over her own body. Vermont and Maine similarly acted to protect a woman’s right to choose.
 
Corporate activism over this issue is also on the rise. In excess of 180 major businesses recently signed on to a letter condemning these new state laws and stating that “restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health, independence, and economic stability of our employees and customers.” Childbearing should be a conscious decision for many, many reasons, not the least of which is the profound economic impact on the mother.
 
Additionally, 42 state attorneys general and elected prosecutors penned a statement declaring they will not enforce these new abortion restrictions. They said, “Legal precedent, as established by the highest court in the land, has held for nearly 50 years that women have the right to make decisions about their own medical care including, but not limited to, seeking an abortion. Enforcement of laws that criminalize healthcare decisions would shatter that precedent, impose untenable choices on victims and healthcare providers, and erode trust in the integrity of our justice system.”

Amy Kerr Hardin is a retired banker, a regionally known artist, and a public-policy wonk and political essayist at www.democracy-tree.com.

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