Our Little Geekling

Please allow me a moment to stand upon a soapbox. This post will be about government control of birth control options, so if you aren’t interested, please move on. (But please come back another time!)

Ahem.

There is a lot going on these days concerning birth control and the government’s desire to control what’s going on in a woman’s uterus. In Oklahoma things are no different. Currently there is a bill that has PASSED the Oklahoma State Senate and is headed toward the House. And you guys, I’m scared. Truly, truly terrified of this bill and what it will mean for me, and what it will mean for Eriana if we stay in this state.

SB1433, the Oklahoma Personhood Bill, makes an embryo legally a person. Fine. I get that, especially considering this is a super conservative state and is very religiously inclined. HOWEVER. The Oklahoma Personhood Bill would outlaw the morning-after pill (even in the case of rape or incest), IUDs, some oral contraceptives, termination of tubal and molar pregnancies, and IVF. If a woman has a miscarriage, she could, conceptually, be tried in a criminal court if it is found that she did not do everything in her power to try to save the child, EVEN IF SHE IS UNAWARE THAT SHE IS PREGNANT AT THE TIME OF MISCARRIAGE.

The morning-after pill, IUDs, and some oral contraceptives would be outlawed because these prevent the implantation of a possibly fertilized embryo. Tubal and molar pregnancy termination would be criminal offenses, even though the embryo in both cases can generally never grow to be a fetus or a baby and even with the high risk to the mother’s life should the pregnancy continue. IVF becomes illegal because fertilized eggs that are not transferred may be frozen or discarded.

Now, y’all. I am 29 years old. I have been married for almost nine years. I have been pregnant twice. I have had sexual intercourse with one man in my entire life, and that was not until after we were married. I have had two healthy pregnancies, and I have one living daughter. Under this new law, would I have been prosecuted for Angel’s death, even though nothing was wrong during my pregnancy, I wanted her very, VERY much, and nothing could be done for her medically (in the opinion of EVERY DOCTOR WHO WORKED THROUGH MY CASE OR WAS CONSULTED AFTER THE FACT)? If I were to get pregnant again, unplanned, and “drink till it’s pink” and then miscarry, would I be prosecuted for having a glass of wine every night just because that could have contributed to a miscarriage, even if I didn’t know I was pregnant? Would I need to explore permanent birth control for my family at the age of 29, just because I don’t have any other long-term options that can guarantee none of my eggs would be fertilized? Am I expected to just carry as many babies to term as I conceivably can, and my mental health, our family’s financial situation, etc. be damned?

If we were to make a permanent home in Oklahoma, would I have to take Eriana across state lines when she’s thinking about becoming sexually active or wants to get on birth control so that she can have her choice? If she is a lesbian and she and her partner/wife want to explore IVF, will she need to go to another state or country to be able to conceive a child?

I would like to know if the 27 Senators who co-wrote this bill (mine included… CRAP) talked to their wives, daughters, granddaughters, mothers about this. I would like to know where they think they get off passing something like this. This is not even an issue of pro-life or pro-choice. I feel like it’s much, much more than that. Why don’t we ask them if they will pay for a vasectomy for the male member of heterosexual couples that don’t want/can’t afford anymore children, just so the woman doesn’t end up being prosecuted for miscarriage or in danger of dying rather than terminating pregnancies with extreme complications? Why don’t we ask them to talk to the 14 year old girl who was raped by her stepdad and became pregnant and now has to carry to term or risk prosecution if she miscarries, when she didn’t want to become pregnant, let alone have sex with that man in the first place, and couldn’t take a morning-after pill? Why don’t we ask them to talk to the couple who wants a baby more than anything in the whole world but cannot conceive, and doesn’t want to go the route of adoption or surrogacy? I’m certain asking them to consider the state’s lesbian couples would be fruitless.

One senator asked for an amendment that called the waste of sperm an act against unborn children. This amendment was tabled, and many people assumed she was being sarcastic, though she wasn’t. How do the other senators find THIS to be silly, but not the rest of the bill? This portion of the proposed bill gained national attention because it was considered ridiculous.

I just… I can’t wrap my head around something like this. And it bothers me a LOT that this has already passed the Senate. It passed 34-8.

I read these statistics at Cult of Ezzell, and I wanted to post them here, too.

Studies reveal that anywhere from 10-25% of all clinically recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriage… The reason for miscarriage is varied, and most often the cause cannot be identified. During the first trimester, the most common cause of miscarriage is chromosomal abnormality – meaning that something is not correct with the baby’s chromosomes. Most chromosomal abnormalities are the cause of a damaged egg or sperm cell, or are due to a problem at the time that the zygote went through the division process. ~ American Pregnancy Association

The Oklahoma State Senate is calling this an anti-abortion statement. But it ISN’T! This goes so much further. The senator who introduced the bill noted that it would act as a statement that Oklahoma was pro-life. Is Oklahoma pro-life? A majority of voters may be, but Oklahoma? Is not. I, as well as many others, don’t believe this to be about pro-life/pro-choice. And I’m scared. Y’all, I’m really, really scared.

If you are an Oklahoman and you disagree with this bill, please contact your legislators. You can find out who is in your district here.

I don’t wish to start a political debate on this topic. Comments for this post will not be opened. If you’d like to discuss this issue further, whether you agree with me or not, please send RESPECTFUL correspondence to tara AT ourlittlegeekling.com.

And just because I’d like to end on a happy note, here’s a photo of my girl. It’s a baby in a box!