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Many of you know me from my background as an organizer and advocate for women’s health and rights. That’s why, yesterday (on my birthday) I took some time off from Perla’s campaign for Place 1 to testify against SB 182. This bill is Sen. Patrick’s bill to require women to hear and see medically inaccurate and unnecessary information before an abortion – I believe in a thinly-veiled attempt to persuade women not to make the choice to have an abortion. To top things off, Sen. Deuell filed a rider yesterday to de-fund women’s clinics throughout Texas. So, I want to share with you some my thoughts on Sen. Patrick’s bill in the hopes that this won’t fly under the radar. You can stay updated and make your voice heard by getting involved with NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, my former stomping grounds. Here are my thoughts: I first want to say that while I’m opposed to this bill because of some very fundamental differences of opinion on this issue, reducing abortions and the need for information to do this is a value Sen. Patrick and I share. However, our major distinction is how we get to that goal. I support Prevention over persuasion. And, there are a number of technical reasons why this bill is flawed and does not address the particularly scary precedent of “informed consent” including: - Many in the medial profession are against this bill because they already follow professional, legal and ethical guidelines for abortion care and other procedures which allow patients to view any medical information relating to their care. This bill is simply not necessary.
- That the FDA is against bills like this because of the risk of miscarriage for undue ultrasounds so this bill actually puts women who may change their minds because of the bill at risk.
- This bill fails to clarify the type of ultrasound required. Other states have required the “best picture available” which would be a vaginal ultrasound. This is particularly undue and invasive, especially for victims of rape and incest. Furthermore, it’s unclear whether this requirement would pass constitutional muster.
Aside from the technical problems with the bill, I want to focus on the bottom line. The bottom line is that choosing to have an abortion is not an easy choice that women take lightly. In fact, no woman wants to have an abortion but those of us who do choose this option do so because it’s the best choice for us among several unappealing choices. None of us could ever fully understand an individual woman's unique circumstances. It’s most likely because of our unique circumstances that whether we have regret or distress regarding our pregnancy and the choice we made in relation to it, we take personal responsibility for our choices and are not actively trying to take this choice away from other women. We don’t need to agree with other’s choices to support their option to have choices that fit their lives. Given that abortion is a choice that members like Sen. Patrick fundamentally disagree with, I don’t think there will ever be a list of things a woman or a doctor could do that would make it acceptable to them for a woman to make this choice. The important thing to remember about bills like these is that there are never going to an acceptable number of hoops women have to jump through – because the end (for them) will never justify the means. Women are going to continue to have abortions – whether we like it or not, whether it is legal or not and no matter the amount or type of information you give to a woman in a waiting room of an abortion clinic. However, the need for information isn't what we're arguing over. If the State is truly interested in being helpful in this realm, we should focus on requiring type of information that is proven to be helpful at reducing the need for abortion: preventive information. To address the needs of all the women who say that they didn’t know what was happening with their body, I say we need more health education. And, to address the needs of all the women that find themselves in the position of being unintentionally pregnant, I say we need better access to contraception – for men and women. By focusing on the root of the problem, we can focus on the only proven ways to reduce the number of abortions – not through persuasion but through prevention. The choice, for now, is yours. -- Laurie Felker Jones
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