In today’s Only In America story, comes news that a state Senate Bill in Wisconsin contains a provision that means your mother-in-law could prevent you from having an abortion. The provision, part of Senate Bill 201, states that a parent or grandparent of an unborn feotus can prevent an abortion from happening if they believe the decision to abort is down to gender bias.
The thing is, said parent or grandparent doesn’t actually have to prove there’s a gender bias, they just have to file an accusation stating it to be true, after which and woman’s medical records would be opened up for inspection. Beyond this, there is no specific direction given as to how to prove that there may or may not be a gender bias.
So, if you’re pregnant and you happen to have a particularly vindictive mother-in-law, are in hiding from an abusive partner, or just don’t think your parents should get to take your right to choose and use it themselves, and you live in Wisconsin, then you could be in trouble.
Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, saysher organisation hasn’t seen examples of gender-biased abortion in the state, but 'regardless of whether or not there is evidence, the bill itself is flawed. Instead of focusing on gender inequalities in our society, this bill creates a cause of action against abortion providers.
'At a basic level, they are making a claim about religious freedom. However, in reality we see that this is an attack on basic health care for women.'
Any medical professional who performs an abortion that’s been blocked could face penalties that would range from a $10,000 to a $100,000 ( £6058 - £60, 580) fine. Plus 'any other relief the court determines is just and proper in the circumstances.'
This bill isn’t law yet, but has already passed in the Wisconsin assembly by a 58-39 margin. In the senate, it has been passed out of committee and bill sponsor Glenn Grothmann is demanding a senate vote this week. If the bill passes through the senate, it will then be sent to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to veto or approve (last year he signed a billthat required women in Wisconsin to have an ultrasound scan first, forcing the technicians to point out the foetus’s viable organs and features).
And because one terrible idea wasn’t enough, Wisconsin’s Assistant Attorney General is also battling out with the Court of Appeal to lift the block on an assembly bill that requires doctors at abortion clinics to have privileges at a hospital within a 30-mile radius of the clinic (impacting on doctor’s ability to perform abortions at more than one facility, and putting a strain on resources across the state).
The bill also, bizarrely, contains a provision that entitles the parents and grandparents of an aborted foetus to sue the doctor for emotional harm – with absolutely nothing to stop this extending to rapists and their parents.
Yes, that’s right, some politicians in Wisconsin want to give rapists the right to sue the doctor who performed an abortion on their unborn foetus.
Historically, politicians in American have always been obsessed with women’s wombs, and the things we put in them, with abortion proving to be one of the country’s biggest cultural and social flashpoints. These bills are the latest in a long line of moves by conservative politicians to block women’s reproductive rights. Do you remember the entirely awesome Senator Wendy Davis and her (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts to block a law restricting abortion rights in Texas last year? Where’s the Wisconsin equivalent when you need her?
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Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.