Ohio Bill Requires Women to Get a Permission Slip from a Man Before Having an Abortion

What is happening to a woman’s right to choose? Ohio republican representative John Adams has introduced a bill that if passed, will require all Ohio women to obtain written notice from the father of the fetus before an abortion can be legally performed.

Supporters of the bill claim that it gives fathers a say in whether or not an abortion can take place. However, the wording of the bill specifically places the final decision solely with the father. The bill does not say that the father must be notified about an abortion. The bill specifically says that, “no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus”. The father must put in writing that he consents to the abortion in order for the abortion to be legally performed under this bill. This gives the father of the baby the sole choice as to whether or not an abortion will be performed. If the father of the baby does not put it in writing that he agrees with the abortion, then the woman’s right to choose is taken away and the abortion cannot be legally performed according to the wording of the bill. This bill takes away a woman’s right to choose and places the decision solely with the man.

The idea that the bill gives the father rights is a clever disguise. This propaganda is very manipulative. Generally in America when we hear that a bill will enable individuals to have rights we are collectively in favor. The general school of thought is something along the lines of: restricting rights is bad, more rights are good. This bill takes away women’s rights and hands them off to men. This bill is not a progressive step in the right direction.

The proposal of this bill is demeaning and dangerous for all women. It is amazing that in 2007 we have a man sitting in a position of power in the government who is actually proposing that women need to obtain a written permission slip from a man before having an abortion performed. Some of the degrading ideas within the bill include:

“No person shall cause a man to believe that the man is the father of a fetus for the purpose of obtaining the consent required by division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, if the person knows that the man is not the father of the fetus.”

This bill is so outrageous, one wonders why Mr. Adams didn’t just write the above like this, “no woman can trick a pregnancy-phobic man into believing that he is the father in order to get that much needed permission slip.”

So what happens to a woman who wishes to have an abortion that has been raped or is a victim of incest? The bill stipulates that in order for the abortion to be performed the woman must prove that she was raped showing, “a copy of a police report or a complaint, indictment, information, or other court document that gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of rape or incest”. According to the bill, a woman can’t just say that she was raped; she must provide legal documentation of her rape in order to have an abortion.

In situations where there is a question of paternity, a woman must determine specifically who the father is through paternity testing and then still obtain written consent from the man in order for a doctor to legally perform the abortion. The proposal that a woman needs a man’s written consent before getting a legal abortion is both absurd and frightening.

Additionally, under this bill any woman who obtains an abortion without the written consent of the father will be convicted of “abortion fraud” which will be a misdemeanor of the first degree. If a woman is convicted of “abortion fraud” twice then she will be facing felony charges.

This bill strips away a woman’s right to choose in a ridiculous and humiliating way. This bill specifically and dangerously takes away a woman’s reproductive rights and right to choose. Feel free to voice your opinions by contacting John Adams, the creator of the bill. The contact information for John Adams is:

77 S. High St
12th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Telephone: (614) 466-1507
Fax : (614) 719-3978
Email Address: district78@ohr.state.oh.us.

 

Stay informed about all government issues and proposed bills. Voice your opinion on this bill and support women’s reproductive rights. Putting restrictions on women’s reproductive rights puts women in danger of getting abortions illegally, which is unsafe and could result in unnecessary deaths.

Sources:

127^th Ohio General Assembly http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=127_HB_287

The Ohio House of Representatives, Republican John Adams, http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/MemberDetails.jsp?DISTRICT=78

Feminist is not a Bad Word

The word feminist has gone from possessing a revered meaning of female strength and pursuit of equality to being avoided and unclaimed by most of a generation. It is not uncommon to hear a woman say something along the lines of, “Well, I’m not a feminist, but…” and then talk about women deserving equal pay in the workplace. Let me be the first to break it to all of those women who are denying being feminists, but harbor beliefs that women deserve equality. You are a feminist. You just aren’t claiming the title.

 

There are so many misconceptions about feminism that many shy away from owning the title. The undoubtedly ridiculous stereotypes about feminists have cast a negative cloud over the entire feminist movement. Most of the stereotypes have to do with the appearance and attitude of feminists; some believe that in order to be a feminist you must be loud, abrasive, man-hating, lesbian, give up makeup and skirts, stop shaving, and abandon your religion. Collectively, our society agrees that stereotypes are bad, and in fact, most of us are taught not to stereotype groups of people at a young age. There are, however, always a few individuals that are representative of those negative stereotypes. For example, there are feminists who are loud and lesbian, (which isn’t a bad or harmful thing) just as there are some athletes who are scholastically challenged and some Americans who are gun-toting, overweight, and arrogant. Stereotypes are negative and insulting to any group of individuals, feminists included. A core belief within the ideals of feminism lies in personal choices and individuality. No woman or feminist fits neatly into any mold; feminists celebrate the personal freedom to look, live, and just be that way that you are most comfortable.

 

Now that we have figured out what a feminist is not, let’s discuss what a feminist is exactly. Feminism is the movement toward full social, political, and economic equality. Being a feminist is different for each person. It’s about each person (not just women) having enough information to make informed choices. It’s about not being limited to societal expectations. Feminism isn’t about women being more like men, or the two becoming one. Feminism recognizes that men and women are capable of different things, not based on gender, but on individuality. It’s about being liberated and making genuine choices. The focus on feminism needs to be on the freedom of choice, and not on the choices that any one individual makes.

 

Some people have problems reconciling the idea of being both religious and a feminist. Can one be a feminist and religious? Absolutely, yes one can be both. There are many feminists who also endorse the Bible. For example, although a Catholic may not personally believe in the use of birth control, he/she would not prevent others, Catholics or non-Catholics, from deciding for themselves whether or not to believe in or use of birth control. The problem is not with religion. The problem lies with the interpreters of religion. Specifically, the Vatican has made it difficult for an individual to comprehend being both religious and a feminist. The Bible does not directly promote inequality or interfere with human rights. Rather, the Vatican and other individuals have inappropriately used the Bible causing people to confuse the actual text of the Bible and what the interpreters have determined. There are groups who are devoted to helping feminists maintain the balance between their feminist beliefs and their religious beliefs. Catholics for a Free Choice is a group that is supportive of both religion and an individual’s choice. Their website, www.catholicsforafreechoice.org, opens with a quotation by Fances Kissling that reads, “Are we not capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time; of valuing life and respecting women’s rights”. The point is that no individual has to abandon their religious beliefs in order to be supportive of women’s rights.

 

Society seems to have forgotten that feminists were calling for action against the Taliban a decade before the September 11^th tragedy in New York. Feminists were paying close attention to the Taliban; particularly how they were denying basic human rights to women and girls and the negative impact that this had on them. Feminists were the only ones who were putting pressure on the U.S. government to intervene in order to stop the hostile reign. It wasn’t until September 11^th that others started paying attention as the feminists had been.

 

Feminists were active against domestic violence long before anyone else was talking about it. The federal government did not allocate any money to assist with ending violence against women until 1994. It was only after the brutal murder of the beautiful Nicole Brown Simpson that Americans as a whole began paying attention to this issue. Domestic violence is still a pervasive issue, so much so, that it is viewed independently of feminism.

 

Feminist is not a bad word. The term feminism has always been an ideological fire starter. In general, words that are associated with being either progressive or female tend to get degraded. If the word “feminist” were changed to something else, then over time that word would come to possess negative associations. Conservatives and right-wing supporters have captured the language in this way. For example, look to how the right-wing has manipulated the use of the term “pro life” in the debate on abortion. Would the abortion discussion be viewed differently if the pro-choice individuals had adopted the term “pro life” first, as in not wanting women to die from illegal abortions. Feminists are in pursuit of full social, political, and economic equality. Feminists have an important voice and should never be ashamed of their beliefs. Hasn’t our society learned to be accepting and tolerant of all individuals, feminists included? Being a feminist means living by your own convictions and living a self-respecting life. Feminists of the world, stand up, speak out and be proud.

Sources:

Catholics for a Free Choice, www.catholicsforafreechoice.org, email cffc@igc.apc.org

Delamotte, Eugenia. Women Imagine Change: A Global Anthology of Women’s Resistance from 600 B.C.E. to Present. Routledge, New York, New York 1997.