Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping away women’s rights?

Abortion is no woman’s first choice. We don’t wake up in the morning, have a cup of coffee and think, “Oh, I hope I get pregnant today so I can have an abortion next month.” Oklahoma apparently thinks women don’t take it seriously. The Oklahoma Legislature approved (by overthrowing the governor’s vetoes) two new laws on abortions, “one of which requires women to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before getting an abortion” (NYT). And “no exceptions are made for rape and incest victims.” Another piece of this terrible measure “prevents women who have had a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child is in the womb” (NYT).

This law unconstitutionally invades a woman’s right to privacy. They are considering another measure that would force any woman getting an abortion to fill out an intensive survey on why she is making that decision, and then post the results of those surveys online. Doctors are not in the position to judge and should not have the right to withhold information from patients. That goes against the Hippocratic oath. Patients have rights.

How much overpopulation can this world take? How many more unwanted children can our society support? How many more intrusions on rights will we stand for? When will we start looking at the source of problems?

The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as:

Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.

This law is not free of coercion and the inability to sue doctors for withholding information is certainly breaking the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.

A woman, who normally has to do a bit of soul searching when first she found out she was pregnant and then had to decide what to do, now also has to be grilled by doctors and the government? Even a child, or a victim of incest, or a rape victim would have to go through these intensive measures after all the trauma they experienced. What about women who are victims of abuse? And even if the law was to integrate such measures it still would not be effective or right.

These laws are being made by people who do not understand the complex workings of human society. They cannot seem to grasp that there are many women in situations where they cannot care for a child, let alone carry a pregnancy to term (which is a dangerous and expensive venture at that). There are emotional, physical, and economic reasons. But these justifications do not need to proven in a court to a bunch of white collared law makers. It’s a personal choice, albeit a difficult one. They cannot be measured out, weighed, and judged. We too often forget that life is not black in white, you do not stand on one side of the line or the other. Our creativity and capacity for compassion are extremely hindered by this thought process. The point is that in our lives, we all deserve freedom of choice.