Thread by @melissadawes

This thread is NOT about abortion being right or wrong, rather it’s my thoughts on what new abortion laws mean for ALL women, regardless if you’re pro-life or pro-choice. These bills have serious ramifications for all women. 1

Scholars & lawyers agree these laws are vehicles to challenge Roe v Wade. However, the bills go further than just outlawing abortion. Each state has various inclusions which extend into women’s healthcare, human rights & decency. Here are areas of concerns for women: 2

Medical Privacy: A key feature of these bills is knowing who is pregnant. For many policies to be enforced, law enforcement needs to know when & at what stage a woman is pregnant. Penalties can be enforced at any stage a pregnancy is ended, even if it is not through abortion. 3

So the first question we must ask: Will doctors be forced to register/report all women who are pregnant? Would we also require citizens to report on women in their community so the government can track who is pregnant? Will women seek neonatal care under these risks? 4

With conditions such as miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, even traveling to have an abortion being written into law, it further supports the idea the government would need access to private medical information in order to know which female citizens are pregnant. 5

Miscarriage a Crime: Georgia’s law can now prosecute a woman who has a miscarriage if it can be determined she is responsible for causing the miscarriage. Mind you, in the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy, 50-75% end in miscarriage. This is before women even know they are pregnant. 6

Week 5 is a 21% chance. There are so many reasons a woman can miscarry. Yes, there are some miscarriages due to a mother’s irresponsible behavior. But the law indicates any miscarriage can be investigated to determine if the mother was responsible. 7

Majority of women have no control over miscarriages, yet an intrusive investigation can occur because of the potential of the mother being at fault. There are no standards as to what qualifies when to investigate a miscarriage. 8

Traveling Out of State: Georgia has determined that if you leave out of state to obtain an abortion, you can be prosecuted when you return to the state. This situation goes back to how does the government know who is pregnant. Will check points be established at the border? 9

Will all women take a pregnancy test before they can leave the state? Will pregnant women have to declare the purpose of their travel? The ability for women to travel freely without government interference is a right we never had to think about before now. 10

Ectopic Pregnancy: The lawmaker who proposed removing an ectopic pregnancy and replanting it in the uterus really blew me over. Here is a perfect example of what happens when a politician, not a doctor, tries to add made up medical procedures into bills. This is not a thing. 11

I have experienced firsthand an ectopic pregnancy. My doctor didn’t want to perform the procedure to remove the fetus, opting to let nature takes its course. I spent 3 days with internal bleeding due to a rupture and eventually got myself to an ER. I was lucky to be alive. 12

You don’t mess with ectopic pregnancies. They can kill women. Had I lost my life, my daughter would have grown up without a mother. We sometimes forget in the debate of the mother’s life being in danger that there is a family waiting for her to come home. 13

Rape & Incest: For as long as I can remember, the abortion debate always included a clause: rape and incest were the exceptions. There are some who can handle going through the birth process, but for many the mental and emotional damage from an assault lasts a lifetime. 14

The decision on whether a victim should carry her attacker’s offspring should never be a decision made by a random politician. These are decisions that require medical and mental doctors. Every case is different and must be handled carefully. 15

Mother’s Life: Like rape/incest, a mother losing her life has always been an accepted time to abort. Laws are moving away from that standard. There is an entire family impacted by this loss and I don’t understand why lawmakers are codifying a death sentence for women. 16

We don’t know their circumstances. These are decisions between the woman, her doctor, her family and no one else. Blanket laws cause long-lasting damage. These women deserve to live. 17

Contraception: The irony I can’t wrap my head around is limiting contraception. This comes from insurances, employers, cost, and closing of medical facilities in smaller communities. In some cases, companies will claim religious exemptions, while fighting against abortion. 18

By making contraception readily available, cut the cost and even make it free, abortion rates decrease. 19

Second-Class Citizens: All of these laws are only about women. The rights of women, regardless if they are pregnant or not, are threatened with these overreaching policies. Our bodies and movements will be policed if any of these laws stand. Time to say enough. 20

Politicians not Doctors: The key factor in many of these laws is that they are done without sound medical evidence and with the work of the medical community. When this happens, lives are put at risk. 21

I can only imagine the frustration doctors must feel when lawmakers tie their hands and reduce the quality of medical care they are allowed to give. This impacts everyone. 22

These are issues beyond reproductive rights. This is about policing women, curbing their Constitutional rights and removing their autonomy. 23

Note: under Politicians not Doctors (tweet 21 in thread), it should read at the end....WITHOUT the work of the medical community. (Sorry for the typo)