Friday, April 07, 2006

El Salvador: The GOP model for US abortion policy?

This is all over the feminist blogosphere. Listen to Rachel Maddow's interview with Jack Hitt (who knew there exists a title "Vagina Forensic Specialist"?). No exceptions: life of the mother, rape, incest... Nothing. As explored in the interview, if a woman has an eptopic pregnancy (ie didn't implant in the uterus, no chance of the embryo developing and surviving), in El Salvador they have to wait until the fallopian tube actually bursts -- causing the need for a "very dangerous medical procedure" akin to waiting for an infected appendix to actually burst before operating, which would be RIDICULOUS -- before operating. So they know that the embryo will not develop and is a risk to the mother's health and life, but they don't operate, because that would terminate a supposed human. And apparently women aren't entitled to self defense if the "offender" is in her own body. Clever!

Best line: "The complete criminalization of abortion in South Dakota, I'm sorry, El Salvador!"

If the U.S. starts traveling this road, we'll soon see the possibility of "forensic vaginal searches" for every miscarriage, women criminalized with up to 30 years in prison for terminating pregnancies they can't financially support, and women being forced to put their own health and life at risk in favor of carrying often doomed pregnancies. One more reason why "abortions should be safe, legal, and rare."

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