Guess What--Women Have Brains

A whole bunch of politicians in this country--not to mention their supporters--seem utterly convinced that a vagina and a brain can not exist in the same body. What other explanation can there be for the latest round of utterly insulting and paternalistic anti-choice bills flooding state legislatures?

Let's look at the Texas sonogram bill, just for kicks. The bill, which is expected to be signed by Governor Rick Perry, requires that a doctor perform a sonogram at least 24 hours before a woman can have an abortion. The woman must have the option to see the results and hear the fetal heartbeat; even if she chooses not to do this, the doctor still must describe to her what the sonogram shows, including any limbs and internal organs.

Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana wasn't just content to cut off funding for the Planned Parenthood clinics in his state. Nope, he also made it illegal for any abortions to be performed after 20 weeks. And--the icing on this cake of wrong--doctors are now required to tell women that life begins at conception and that a fetus can feel pain at around 20 weeks.

Excuse me while I check out the immigration requirements for Canada, and remind myself to never, ever, ever move to Indiana. Or Texas. Or any of the number of states considering aping these and other restrictive laws, including my home state of Alabama.

I really want to know exactly what anti-choicers think goes on inside an abortion clinic. Do they imagine some sort of Snidely Whiplash character, twirling his mustache and menacingly waving around a speculum? Do they think clinic employees haunt malls and grocery stores and libraries, sidling up to pregnant women and enticing them in the manner of drug dealers, muttering out of the corner of their mouth that the first pregnancy test is free? (Oh wait, no, it's the crisis pregnancy clinics that use free pregnancy tests to lure women in their doors. My mistake.)

For the love of all that is rational, let's make this very clear: No woman chooses abortion lightly. This is not to say that all women are conflicted about abortion, because many are not, and there is nothing wrong with that. What I mean is, no woman chooses to spend that much money, and invest that much time, lightly.

Not to mention, women aren’t stupid. They know what it means to have an abortion; any reputable clinic in this country will make sure that the woman knows exactly what it entails, and will spend hours answering each and every question before the procedure is done. Clinics will turn away women who are unsure or being coerced; no one can force a woman, or a minor, to have a medical procedure she does not want. The idea that a woman does not think about such an important decision is insulting. It’s not as if a woman will only realize what abortion means by having a sonogram; given that most women who have abortions are already mothers, it’s fair to say that they know what a fetus is and that it does resemble an infant.

It's also fair to say that if a woman needs an abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy, there's a reason. What that reason is matters only to the woman and her doctor, and whoever else she chooses to share it with. It doesn't matter to politicians that have never met her and protesters that have no idea what her life is like. The Supreme Court made it very clear that abortion is legal up to the 24th week. Medical science has made it very clear that the concept of fetal pain is dubious at best.

Yet over and over, anti-choice politicians and those that support them insist that they know what is best for women. So let me say it again: women have vaginas. They also have brains. They also have free will. None of these are mutually exclusive.

There's an election coming up next year. I say it's high time to remind these paternalistic, moralistic, misogynistic politicians that we also have the right to vote, and that we will gladly use it.