Three years ago, a good friend of mine discovered that she was pregnant. She was also Ssngle, working a job that barely covered her living expenses and dealing with a man who had a less than stellar reputation of being dependable. A pregnancy, she’d said, was the last thing she needed. Sure, she could’ve gotten government assistance to take care of her child, but she wanted to have a stable life — like the one she had while growing up — and a father in the home.
She acknowledged that she made a mistake, slipping up with her birth control, getting caught up in the moment and not using protection properly. One thing she knew for sure: There was no way that she could afford to take care of herself while pregnant (her job didn’t offer adequate health insurance) and she definitely could not care for a child. She made the hard decision to have an abortion.
Watching as she struggled with that decision proved something that I’ve always thought: This is the hardest thing that a woman will ever have to decide.
But. It. Should. Be. That. Woman’s choice.
Thank you, North Carolina for injecting yourself where you don’t belong.
Governor Beverly Perdue used her veto power to try and put a stop to this law but Thursday, the Republican-led legislature voted to override the Governor’s move.
Now women seeking abortions have to follow a checklist of steps first.
Both sides of the abortion issue in North Carolina weighing in.
“There is a victory for life today and I couldn’t be happier,” said David Hains with Catholic Voice North Carolina.
But pro-choice advocates said this is dark day for women across the state.
“This is a tragedy for women in North Carolina,” said Melissa Reed, Vice-President of Development for Planned Parenthood North Carolina. “For a woman of very little means, she may have to take two or three days off work, find childcare for her other children.”
The new law makes three major changes: there is now a 24 hour waiting period after women seek an abortion, they must receive state mandated counseling and view an ultrasound of the fetus beforehand. Even after viewing the sound, women will have to wait additional four hours before the procedure is performed.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2011.
i think this is an otrage!It is not a women’s choice if she has to go through all of that! Women should have the right to choose and not feel like they are being punished! Look at all the children in this world who are born unwanted….unloved…..and killed.That is one more reason for me to hate NC
“For a woman of very little means, she may have to take two or three days off work, find childcare for her other children” is exactly the person who needs a checklist and sex education.
Apparently the author of this article is stupid/prideful enough to think humans have the right to play God and decide who lives and dies. How would you like it, “Mustang Sally,” if you had never been given the chance to live because your mother took the easy way out by murdering you in her womb rather than accepting responsibility for her mistake? How could a person be so selfish to think that she has the authority/right to choose to MURDER her own flesh and blood that was given life through her body, that lives and breathes through her? Think about it.
TB, it would’ve been her choice. The government should not force this on a woman, while at the same time cutting programs for children.
TB it’s obvious that you aren’t paying attention to the issue. The state is trying to deem themself capable of playing God. There is a lot more to a woman’s right to choice then simply life or death. June of 1999 I was 21 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby girl when I woke up the third day of that week to find I had bulging membranes and was dialating without contractions. For two days I fought to save the life of my baby even though the doctors said things were pretty dismal and had already suggested that I have labor induced and give up. If it weren’t for a woman’s right to choose I could have on the spot been FORCED to give up on my baby. The state of NC DOES NOT CONSIDERED a fetus a HUMAN BEING UNTIL THE 26th WEEK of PREGNANCY. I wasn’t given a death certificate for my daughter who died on the five day of that week on her way down the birth canal. I was given a fetal demise certificate even though I buried a perfectly developed 21 almost 22 wk baby girl. With out a woman’s right to choose I could have been stuck upside down in a hospital bed for weeks with my life on the line. Every moment I stayed like I was my risk for infection was increasing because by the GRACE OF GOD women DO HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE I WAS ABLE TO MAKE THE CHOICE I HAD TO AT THE RIGHT TIME. I was not forced into doing anything once I was fully dialated and her foot had entered the birth canal I knew it was time. I prayed and prayed that God wouldn’t let my baby be born. God wasn’t there stopping it. If I had been able to save my baby I would have. I would love nothing more than to have a daughter and two sons not just the two sons I managed to carry to full term due to a cerclage a surgical procedure to hold my cervix closed. By having that cerclage placed I was playing God I was upping my odds of successfully carrying a child to term. Remember a woman’s right to choose involves a lot more than simply do I want this baby or not…
Right wing zealots feel that children are God’s punishment for having sex and you have no right to avoid it.
Right wing zealots also name their intrusive laws with titles that are the opposite of what they actually do.
They should call this the “Women’s Right to have MY opinion shoved down their throat” law.