It’s Baaaaack
The South Dakota legislature is back with a new, improved abortion ban. Voters threw out the previous abortion ban passed by their legislature last November—a ban that made no exception for rape or incest. The new one does. Sort of.
The “Women’s Health and Human Life Protection Act” would allow rape victims to have abortions if they report the crime to police within 50 days. Doctors would be required to confirm the report with authorities.
In cases of incest, a doctor would need to obtain the woman’s consent to report the crime—along with the identity of the alleged perpetrator—before an abortion could be performed.
So if you were raped 51 days ago, you’re shit out of luck. And if you’re hesitant to report your father, grandfather, brother, uncle, or cousin to the authorities, then you’re shit out of luck.
So let’s say you’re a 15 year-old girl who still lives with your parents and your father raped you. Unless you’re brave enough to report your father to the police, and unless you get your ass to the doctor early enough, you’ll just have to have your dad’s baby.
The new law would also make any doctor brave enough to perform abortions in South Dakota absolutely miserable.
The measure would also stipulate that abortions could be done only until the 17th week of pregnancy, and blood samples from aborted babies would be sent to the police for DNA testing.
Also, a doctor could perform an abortion if the pregnancy would “cause a very significant impairment of the functioning of a major bodily organ or system,” but before that could take place, the mother would have to get a second opinion from another doctor.
The bill would require the doctor to send a written statement to the department of health explaining why the operation was performed and providing all the circumstances surrounding the abortion.
So even if there were doctors in South Dakota willing to assume all that extra paperwork, if he or she screws up and runs afoul of the law—say the doc mistakenly aborts a fetus that’s seventeen-and-a-half weeks old—the doc will be charged with a felony and sent to prison for up to 10 years.
The “Women’s Health and Human Life Protection Act” would allow rape victims to have abortions if they report the crime to police within 50 days. Doctors would be required to confirm the report with authorities.
In cases of incest, a doctor would need to obtain the woman’s consent to report the crime—along with the identity of the alleged perpetrator—before an abortion could be performed.
So if you were raped 51 days ago, you’re shit out of luck. And if you’re hesitant to report your father, grandfather, brother, uncle, or cousin to the authorities, then you’re shit out of luck.
So let’s say you’re a 15 year-old girl who still lives with your parents and your father raped you. Unless you’re brave enough to report your father to the police, and unless you get your ass to the doctor early enough, you’ll just have to have your dad’s baby.
The new law would also make any doctor brave enough to perform abortions in South Dakota absolutely miserable.
The measure would also stipulate that abortions could be done only until the 17th week of pregnancy, and blood samples from aborted babies would be sent to the police for DNA testing.
Also, a doctor could perform an abortion if the pregnancy would “cause a very significant impairment of the functioning of a major bodily organ or system,” but before that could take place, the mother would have to get a second opinion from another doctor.
The bill would require the doctor to send a written statement to the department of health explaining why the operation was performed and providing all the circumstances surrounding the abortion.
So even if there were doctors in South Dakota willing to assume all that extra paperwork, if he or she screws up and runs afoul of the law—say the doc mistakenly aborts a fetus that’s seventeen-and-a-half weeks old—the doc will be charged with a felony and sent to prison for up to 10 years.
posted by Mr Farnham at
2:06 PM
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