Tuesday women all over this state were busy, as we
are most days going about our everyday lives. Home, kids, work… for most of us
it’s a continuous balancing act just to make it through the week. Who has time
to worry about what some legislators in Montgomery are doing when we all lead
such busy lives? But while we were all distracted Tuesday with the important
tasks we do every day, our legislators were busy too — busy stripping away our
rights one bill at a time.
HB57, the bill to put excessive restrictions on
women’s health clinics that no other health-related clinic has to follow, has
passed the Alabama House and is on its way to the Senate for debate. This bill
will have the effect of shutting down all five women’s clinics in Alabama.
These are clinics that serve the less fortunate women of our state by providing
safe access counseling, birth control, cancer prevention, treatment for STD’s
and family planning services. Abortions constitute less than 5% of what they
do.
If this bill were about protecting women, as the
sponsor Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin (R-Indian Springs) has stated, then all medical
clinics in the state would be required to meet the same standards. There are
numerous outpatient surgeries performed in clinics; invasive skin cancers and
tumors removed by surgery, vasectomies, colon exams, oral surgery (performed
with far more risk), stent insertion, and many more. No other clinics, offices,
surgical centers, or even hospitals that perform equally invasive procedures or
far more invasive procedures are subject to these regulations.
HB108 (Religious Liberty Act) passed as well which
will give employers the right to deny women in Alabama contraception coverage
if a company’ shareholders object to birth control on religious grounds. This
means that if your employer files for a religious exemption, you could be in
the position of having to make a case to your boss to cover birth control that
is prescribed for medical reasons. They will not have to cover birth control
for contraceptive purposes.
In addition to the bills referenced above, Alabama
politicians are trying to push a “Personhood” bill (SB205). The law of
unintended consequences should temper our resolve when tinkering with laws
impacting people’s lives. When you define a person at the moment of conception,
then contraceptives like the pill and IUDs (which prevent the egg from
implanting in the uterus) are tantamount to murder weapons. Only condoms would
likely be allowed since they intervene before the fertilization process. Personhood
legislation would also have many other unintended consequences such as making
in vitro fertilization illegal, preventing many women from being able to become
pregnant.
Alabama women deserve better than to have
politicians “play doctor” and take away our ability to make personal, private
medical decisions for ourselves. Women should have the power and the legal
right to make their own reproductive decisions.
These bills will be coming up for debate and a
potential vote in the Senate very soon. I encourage each of you to call your
Senator – full listing with numbers at this link - and ask him or her to please
vote no. Ask your Senator to trust women.
Do it for your mother, your sister, your daughter, your aunt. Do it for
any woman you love.
About the author: Activist
Teresa Tolbert writes from Brooks, Alabama: http://www.teresatolbert.com.
Where is Gloria Steinem when we need her?
ReplyDelete