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Original poster

to think America is a frightening place to be a woman right now?

457 replies

BornSicky · 24/06/2011 23:05

Pregnant women facing murder charges

This is bullying at a nightmarish level.

I find it foul and despicable that women are being villified in such a way. How did the Christian right-wing become so powerful?

Truly, truly scary.

How can these bad laws (including the new "inspections" (read closures) of abortion clinics in Kansas) come to be passed? How can they be stopped?

OP posts:
inatrance · 24/06/2011 23:56

That is horrific. Scary to think that this is happening now, and that in this day and age women's rights are still bring eroded. The American right wing nutters have got so much in common with the Taliban they really ought to get on better... Hmm

Ryoko · 24/06/2011 23:57

I look forward to the law applying to males, life in prison for the entire population for the infanticide of all those billions of innocent sperms.

ronshar · 24/06/2011 23:59

It will never apply to males because in america the men can do no wrong. It is obviously all the women. They should wear a burqua and stay indoors unless the man lets them out.

HHLimbo · 25/06/2011 00:13

Hell yes.

I used to think Americans were a bit weird, but now I know they're fucking insane.

RobF · 25/06/2011 01:14

"It will never apply to males because in america the men can do no wrong."

How many American men are in prison? How many women?

OCDspecialist · 25/06/2011 01:25

RobF- probably quite a few of each. As long as they are black/hispanic/poor white trash, the great American penal machine will eat the lot of them.

Pity right-wing America doesn't see fit to support the precious ickle fetuses after they're born. No...it just lets them grow up unwanted and probably poverty stricken and then slaps them in jail. Or into the electric chair, like daddy Bush showed them. URGH

garlicnutter · 25/06/2011 02:21

YANBU, except for Rob. America is very vocal about its rights to own a gun and to kill. How did the life of a foetus become more important than the life of an already-born, living person?

Anti-abortion campaigners are never in favour of improved sex education and free contraception. They never promote additional support for single mothers. This proves they're not interested in the welfare of woman or child, only in using women's fertility against them.

Very good point about all the unfulfilled sperm, Ryoko! Might be better if they just go ahead and sterilise every American, huh? No risk of poor ickle could-be-babies dying off prematurely Hmm

DoubleNegativePanda · 25/06/2011 02:35

I used to think Americans were a bit weird, but now I know they're fucking insane.

Generalize much? We're not all fucking insane over here, thank you very much.

HHLimbo · 25/06/2011 02:38

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet.

HHLimbo · 25/06/2011 02:54

Aw sorry DNP, are you American? Didn't mean to offend anyone in particular.
I did consider writing "America", but its not the country, its the people.

I know a few 'thinking' Americans, they are wonderful, but they have mostly left America and are in the process of changing nationality (!).

There's no escaping the fact the people making these laws were elected by majority vote, which is very worrying.

But of course, I really hope that the sane people there win, and that these terrible things no longer happen. So if you are campaigning against this, please know you have my full support and very best wishes.

CaptainBizarro · 25/06/2011 03:32

This is chilling. I can't believe this can go on in a free country.

It's backward in exactly the way that sharia law is backward.

Thank God I don't live there.

DoubleNegativePanda · 25/06/2011 04:09

Yes, I am American. And I have a raging headache and a 9y/o who has the Spongebob theme song stuck in her head. I cracked!

The majority of the people I personally know do not agree with anti-choice legislation or prosecution and do not vote for candidates that do. I wouldn't ever support closing family planning clinics, despite the fact that I have a hard time with the idea of abortion and can't imagine a scenario where I would choose it. But I have no need to impose MY choices on anyone else. That's the beauty of choice.

terribletriplets · 25/06/2011 04:18

Horrifying. I don't see how this has anything to do with Christianity as I understand it.

differentnameforthis · 25/06/2011 06:04

Why does America hate women so much?

CheerfulYank · 25/06/2011 06:19

What doublenegativepanda said.

This law started from a good place. To protect women and their unborn children (or fetuses or whatever the hell you want to call them) from violent partners. Scott Peterson, for one, was convicted of both the murder of his wife and their unborn son.

This won't stand. We won't let it.

Please do not generalize us, though. I'm not "fucking insane" , and though I am a "thinking American", I'm not "in the process of changing nationalities" , nor am I able to think of a situation in which I would consider doing so. I love my country, and the kind, generous, hardworking people most of us are, and I'll stay and fight against shit laws like this one.

Tee2072 · 25/06/2011 06:40

As an American there are indeed many reasons I will probably never live in my own country again. This is just one of them.

Women have always been second, or even 3rd, class citizens in the US.

For example, the US, a supposedly world leader, only allows for 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave. There is a provision for paid leave but you have to meet certain criteria. So what does that say about women and their jobs and their importance?

The religious right took over the US years ago and it's going to take more than one liberal president to deal with it. And that's assuming President Obama gets a second term, something that is not guaranteed.

bigfatcath · 25/06/2011 07:20

I believe in the right to choose up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. I also believe that the rights and health of the woman should superceed those of an unborn baby after 24 weeks.

However, if i was beaten by my partner at 30 weeks and then had a stillbirth in my opinion he should be convicted to assault and murder/manslaughter of that child.

I also think that after 24 weeks of pregnancy women who drink to excess and/ or take illegal drugs are incredibly selfish. I have worked with fetal alcohol syndrome children. Also children of drug addicts are more likely to have long term heath problems.

I consider myself to be a feminist but if a woman decides to continue her pregnancy she is an incubator for a new life and has a moral (not legal) obligation to nuture that life up to birth.

What's going on in the South of America is disgusting and indefensible, but the attitude of some posters on here of it's a woman's body she should be able to do what the hell she wants whilst pregnant is morally abhorrent too.

Triggles · 25/06/2011 07:22

I have to agree with Tee on this one, as an American myself, although living in the UK (permanently). I could not imagine ever living in the US again. The way things are going over there is scary indeed. It's never been a secret that the US is not very "friendly" for women or children (or the poor for that matter!), despite their criticisms of other countries, and they have a lot to work on.

For a country that is supposed to have a separation of church and state, I find it appalling how much influence the religious nutters have.

TotalChaos · 25/06/2011 07:48

Absolutely terrifying.

CheerfulYank · 25/06/2011 07:49

I've, um, never felt like a second class citizen here. But maybe it depends what area of work you're in or what geographic location?

Tee2072 · 25/06/2011 07:59

Cheerful I don't think I ever did when I lived there.

And then I moved to the UK and saw the benefits women get (not that I think women are equal, actually I think we are superior, but that's another post Grin) in terms of ML and maternity care and it really flags up how behind the times the US is in equal rights compared to most of the rest of the 1st world.

CheerfulYank · 25/06/2011 08:09

Yes, maternity leave is ridiculous. But I don't know if it's down to our "must-work-must-work" ethic or a belief that women are lesser than?

EricNorthmansMistress · 25/06/2011 08:09

I think BigFatCath has missed the point.

oxocube · 25/06/2011 08:12

Shocking and very frightening.

jeckadeck · 25/06/2011 09:55

It is horrific. Worth remembering, though, that the U.S. is massively polarised between the scary Republican rednecks who advocate stuff like this and tend to live in scary places like Nebraska and Kansas and the very sophisticated over-educated liberals who live on the coasts. If you live somewhere like New York or San Francisco people believe very strongly in the right to abortion etc and this tendency counteracts the bible bashers and woman haters in the middle of nowhere.
But it does seem that the two camps are so at one anothers' throats that they will stop at nothing to fuck each other. Hence the hatred of Obama and this increasingly scary stuff. I lived in the U.S. for two years, in one of the liberal tolerant places, and for all its good points I'm very glad I don't still live there.