LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jaded_journeys)

I posted this in my journal, but figured I'd mention it here in a somewhat more civilized manner. OK, at least it has fewer naughty words than the post in my journal.

I know y'all might be sick of hearing about South Dakota's abortion ban, but I find this transcript of a news report on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer sickening. I'm only including a few quotes in this entry, but the whole thing is an interesting read.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Citing what they see as a more receptive or antiabortion high court, lawmakers easily approved a sweeping ban on the procedure, one that declares that life begins at conception.

South Dakota's law makes it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion unless the mother's life is endangered. There are no exceptions for cases in which a mother's health may be threatened or cases in which the pregnancy results from rape or incest.

STATE SEN. BILL NAPOLI (R): You know, I we are really think we're pushing the envelope on that issue. I'm not sure that the Supreme Court is ready for us yet, but what's that old saying, "There's no time like the present"?

[Snip]

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Napoli says most abortions are performed for what he calls "convenience." He insists that exceptions can be made for rape or incest under the provision that protects the mother's life. I asked him for a scenario in which an exception may be invoked.

BILL NAPOLI: A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life. [Emphasis mine]

"Sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it." I can't even begin to tell you how much that phrase just gets under my skin. I've heard this referred to in a couple of places as "The Sodomized Virgin Exception." I'm not sure that it's an official name, but seriously, do I even want to know the mentality of someone who sits around and thinks of these scenarios?

What if the woman is raped and sodomized, but she's not a virgin? Is she somehow less traumatized than a "pure" virgin? What if it was her husband? What if she's and atheist or not Christian but still a virgin? Why should virginity or religion factor into any rape? They aren't even trying to be discrete about this anymore.

I'm beyond enraged at the Dominionists by this point. Mr. Napoli even talked about a return to "traditional values." Isn't that a Dominionist code phrase?

BILL NAPOLI: When I was growing up here in the wild west, if a young man got a girl pregnant out of wedlock, they got married, and the whole darned neighborhood was involved in that wedding. I mean, you just didn't allow that sort of thing to happen, you know? I mean, they wanted that child to be brought up in a home with two parents, you know, that whole story. And so I happen to believe that can happen again.

I'm not quite sure if he's suggesting that all out of wedlock pregnancies should end in marriage or not. What is clear is that he doesn't take into consideration the fact that the father might already be married, skip town, or not really care at all about what happens to the mother and the baby.

Here's what a Pro-Choice Democratic Senator said on the subject:

STATE REP. ELAINE ROBERTS (D), SOUTH DAKOTA: We've chipped, and chipped, and chipped; now we're here with this full fledge. What will be next? What will be next?

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Democratic Representative Elaine Roberts is one of South Dakota's few pro-choice legislators. What's next, she fears, is a host of measures that regulate women's private lives.

ELAINE ROBERTS: We already have a law that says that pharmacists by conscience could refuse to fill my prescription for contraceptives. There is already a move from some groups who have worked on this to say that there should be no contraceptives, that sexual intercourse is for the purpose of reproduction. [Emphasis Mine]

Am I being paranoid when I say that outlawing abortion was just the tip of the iceberg? If I am, go ahead and give me my tinfoil hat. For everyone who says "Oh that would never happen," I want to remind you that too many people said the same thing about the possible reversal of Roe.

Are people not scared enough yet? What's the best way to combat this attack on reproductive rights? How can we warn women and men everywhere of what is happening? I've already signed up for Planned Parenthood's Action Network, and I'm a registered voter now. Of course, I can't affect things in South Dakota much as I'm not a resident of that state, and that's what frustrates the hell out of me because I fear it's only a matter of time before this movement to outlaw abortion lands in my state.