Feminism

Anti-Abortion Lobby: Don’t Make Us Tell Women We’re Not Doctors

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Sorta transcript:

In many US states, anti-abortion activists have successfully introduced bills that would require women who want abortions to be forced to undergo pointless invasive examinations with a vaginal wand and then to stare for some period of time at the resulting sonogram. The anti-abortion lobby claims that this is important because women should have as much information as possible before making the choice to abort, because more information is always better. That’s why when you go to see a doctor to treat foot fungus, you are required by law to view that horrific Lamisil commercial where a cartoon fungus goblin levers a toenail up and climbs inside. Don’t look away or we’ll have to start it over! You NEED to know what this fungus is up to before we can get rid of it!

Because the anti-abortion crowd cares so much about giving women ALL the information they need to make a decision, Assemblyman David Chiu from right here in San Francisco introduced a measure requiring anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” to tell their clients that they are entitled to a range of free or low-cost options provided by the state of California, including abortion. They’ll also be required to tell women if they don’t have a licensed doctor on staff.

Because women deserve to know all the facts, right? Why, I’d be very surprised indeed if I were to find out that all 228 crisis pregnancy centers in California weren’t already doing this.

And I’d be downright shocked if, say, several of those centers filed lawsuits in order to be able to withhold that helpful information about their clients’ rights and healthcare.

Oh, hold on….yes, that’s actually exactly what has happened. Weird! I was sure I’d be shocked.

I guess anti-abortion proponents don’t actually care about women having all the information they need to make an informed decision, and that they actually prefer to control and manipulate the information they do receive in order to trick them into not having abortions. Oh and by the way, the stupid sonogram bullshit doesn’t even work. A study found that hardly anyone ever changes their mind after seeing a sonogram, and the few who do were genuinely on the fence anyway. But giving women actually useful information about all their healthcare options and letting them know whether they’re speaking with a licensed doctor or not? That may actually allow them to make an informed decision, and god forbid, the anti-abortion can’t have that.

Rebecca Watson

Rebecca is a writer, speaker, YouTube personality, and unrepentant science nerd. In addition to founding and continuing to run Skepchick, she hosts Quiz-o-Tron, a monthly science-themed quiz show and podcast that pits comedians against nerds. There is an asteroid named in her honor. Twitter @rebeccawatson Mastodon mstdn.social/@rebeccawatson Instagram @actuallyrebeccawatson TikTok @actuallyrebeccawatson YouTube @rebeccawatson BlueSky @rebeccawatson.bsky.social

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2 Comments

  1. The “we just want them to have ALL the information” crowd make me chuckle.

    Could you imagine a woman going to get an abortion, seeing a sonogram, and then asking, “What the HELL is that! An embryo? I have an embryo in me? I had no idea!!! I thought I was aborting an onion.”

    I think she’s got a pretty good idea why she’s going for an abortion.

  2. Which state(s) added the ‘information’ requirement that women were to be told that abortion increased their chances of developing breast cancer?

    Since there is no evidence supporting that claim, real doctors were being required by state law to lie to their patients.

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