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"That Time Of The Month"?
If you live in Virginia, maybe it won't be long before you need to report it to the cops. No, the bill John Cosgrove, a Republican State Congressman in Virginia, is proposing probably isn't intended to go that far -- but, just going by the wording of it, it could. Cosgrove, who also wants specific language inserted in the Virginia state constitution that "marriage may exist only between a man and one woman," is seeking to make miscarriage a Class 1 misdemeanor unless a woman reports it to the police, and within 12 hours. The goal, says the site, DemocracyForVirginia, is "the advancement of the cause of recognizing legal 'personhood' for all products of conception." "Products of conception? Not to be too gross, but that's where the menstruation reporting could come in. And, here's the miscarriage scenario:

You are at home alone at 8:00 on a Friday night. You are 8 weeks pregnant. You are excited about the pregnancy, but being cautious, you haven’t told anyone about it yet except your partner, your best friend, your parents, and your doctor.

All of a sudden, you begin to experience heavy cramping. Bleeding ensues. You realize with shock and sadness that you are probably experiencing a miscarriage. You leave a message with your doctor’s service. The on-call doctor calls back, offers sympathies, and advises taking pain medication or going to the hospital if the bleeding gets worse. She offers you the next available appointment for a follow-up exam - Monday at 3PM. You accept. You are overwhelmed with grief and surprised by the intensity of physical pain involved. You call your partner and ask him to come home from his “boys night out”, sparing him the reason over the phone. You call your best friend. She offers to come over immediately and make you cocoa. You cry.

You decide not to tell your parents yet; let them sleep through the night before delivering the terrible news. Your partner comes home and you break the sad news to him. He holds you on the couch and you both cry together. Your best friend comes over with cocoa. You cry some more. Over the next few hours, you suffer pain, cramping, and intermittent bleeding. Exhausted, you finally fall asleep in your partner’s arms around 4 AM. You sleep until noon, and then gird yourself for the difficult call to your parents, who were so eagerly anticipating their first grandchild.

Guess what? You just earned yourself up to 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine. Why? Because you failed to call the cops and report your miscarriage within 12 hours.

True? Not yet. But if Delegate John Cosgrove (R-78) has his way, HB1677 will become law in a few short months, and this scenario will be reality for many women in Virginia. (Read the rest at the Democracy For Virginia link above.)

Until the Republican party stops being the party of religious fascists and starts becoming a part of true conservatives, who act as upholders of The Constitution instead of poodles of the religious "right," it's important to acknowledge the danger of voting for Republicans. And I say this as a non-Democrat (and non-Republican) common-sense moderate who voted for Schwarzenegger.

Posted by aalkon at January 8, 2005 8:14 AM

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» Have a Miscarriage, Go to Jail from The Dullard Gazette
Let's hope this doesn't, uh, pass. I don't want to live in that America. [Read More]

Tracked on January 10, 2005 2:20 AM

Comments

I hope Andrea Dworkin sits on John Cosgrove's face. He deserves it.

Posted by: Lena, sans uterus at January 8, 2005 7:07 PM

Actually, John Cosgrove responded to DemocracyForVirginia. Apparently his aim was to address the problem of abandoned newborns; he didn't realize how the wording would also affect miscarriages.

Posted by: mv at January 8, 2005 11:07 PM

Republicans won't defend the Constitution until there's a polical percentage in it for them. And that won't happen until voters demand it.

Posted by: Todd Fletcher at January 10, 2005 4:34 PM