What on earth is going on in America??

[Nanny0gg]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-48275795

How can a supposedly 'civilised' society pass such a retrograde law?

And other states following suit?

I fear for young women today, I really do.

If pregnancies can't be terminated, then surely any man who impregnates a woman with an unwanted baby is guilty of grievous bodily harm? Or murder in the case where the pregnancy leads to death?

Let's hope it goes to the Supreme Court, is deemed unconstitutional and is overturned (Heartbeat Bill, North Dakota).

Can't they be deemed unconstitutional long before they get to the Supreme Court? I'm not an expert on US law but I was under the impression than only a very small percentage go to Supreme Court, and that the majority of these laws are overturned almost immediately in federal courts.

I was listening to radio 4 about this. It's absolutely heartbreaking.

It's just a way of controlling people. It can no longer be called a democracy if such laws are allowed to pass.

I read an article recently where some American politician (male obviously) had said that he didn't believe there should be exceptions for cases where the mother would die as a result of the pregnancy. Even if that mother were Eg a 12 year old rape victim. He said it was better to sacrifice the mother and save the baby. What the hell happens to that baby then? And why should a female child's life be expendable...?

Don't be silly Carbuncle, of course no men will suffer.

^^

They have more in common with the Taliban than they realise.

Yes to Gilead... and the suggestion that a rapist’s sperm is more important than a woman’s freedom is even more scary!

There was a Virginian politician who suggested that all women who suffer a miscarriage should be required to report it to the police for investigation within 24 hrs of the miscarriage occurring.

It's just a way of controlling people. It can no longer be called a democracy if such laws are allowed to pass.

Well it's actually a constitutional democracy, so although the laws can be passed by congress, they only stand if they are constitutional, which these aren't, therefore they will be struck down before they go into effect.

Its utterly appalling. America is in a very scary place.

Also, as one of the people who campaigned hard for repeal of the 8th in ROI last year, I concur with a PP that it had sweet fuck all to do with 'UK influence', it was the work of Irish campaigners that got us over the line. I don't recall getting any significant UK support.

And for the hard of understanding, the UK is not our 'mainland', we are an independent sovereign country. Trying to justify the use of the term 'British Isles' by likening us to the Channel Islands and Isle of Mann is fucking bizarre. More appropriate to compare us to Belgium, i.e. an entirely independent sovereign state.

Find myself sharing this image more and more at the moment.. pro-life but rarely pro-birth

I would like to know if there is anything that I can do from here. I will fundraise or protest or donate or whatever. When I first read the rumblings of this online I thought, it can't possibly come to pass. Gilead won out in the end though.

I too agree with a PP that cannot fathom how women can be happy to force this onto other women.

I am going to do some research and see if there is anything I can do to protest this gross misogyny.

Having lived in the midwest, this does not surprise me.

People whose main contact with the US is holiday or working with people from the major cities would be surprised about how 80% of the population believe and behave.

It's breaking my heart. My state passed a bill yesterday to force insurance companies and free healthcare to pay for abortions though. I was speaking to one of our senators last week and she said there's all kinds of things our state is doing to ensure this kind of thing won't happen to us.

So at least where I live is getting more progressive, please don't tar the whole of the States with the same brush, it's like comparing British people to Russians distance wise.

We have been to the US quite a few times, outside the big cities Americans are very religious in a way few U.K. people understand

@leckford

See this kind of comment drives me crazy. I live VERY remotely and our community is not at all religious. I've travelled all over the States and been to lots of places outside big cities that aren't religious.

I wish people on Mumsnet who've been to Florida a couple of times would not make sweeping statements.

The abortion laws in Saudi are now more liberal than Alabama.

Thinking of the women in Alabama today, they’ll either have to spend money to travel out of state - or they’ll do DIY terminations and risk great injury.
Banning abortion doesn’t stop it happening, it only stops safe abortion with medical assistance.

Help me out here: why does Trump want Roe v Wade overturned? So that abortion becomes illegal nationwide?? WTF?

Because he's inherently a misogynist, and because he thinks it will keep his voters happy. He knows that he's never going to get the liberal vote anyway, so he's not bothered about outraging them.

I find the possibility of women being investigated for miscarriages particularly horrifying. Having had two myself, I know that it would have added a whole new layer of utter misery and terror having to go through police interviews. Surely that is the sort of thing that is going to lead many women to tip over into clinical depression and even suicide?

I suppose the reasoning with the lack of exemption for rape is that a baby conceived by rape is just as much a baby as a baby conceived by consensual sex. Just because the way it was conceived is awful doesn’t take away that baby’s humanity.

To be clear- this isn’t my point of view.

The 8th amendment of the Irish constitution was repealed due to work done by an army of activists in Ireland. It had sweet F.A to do with the UK.

There were plenty of activists campaigning in the UK and all over the world to repeal the 8th. I was one of them.

I too agree with a PP that cannot fathom how women can be happy to force this onto other women.

Internalised misogyny is a cornerstone of the American right. They'd fall apart without it.

If Trump thought that he had more chance of being president as a liberal, then he'd be a liberal. I don't believe he has any interest in politics as such, just in power. I believe if he thought he could be president by being something else entirely then that's the path be would have chosen. He has no principles beyond making money and listening to the sound of his own voice.

See this kind of comment drives me crazy. I live VERY remotely and our community is not at all religious. I've travelled all over the States and been to lots of places outside big cities that aren't religious.

Indeed - I live in a very rural, not particularly religious state that just voted to increase access to abortions by allowing state money to pay for it.

Which big companies are based in Alabama? We can boycott them until they move. Losing jobs will refocus the minds of the Christian Taliban.

Never been to Florida myself. Have stayed in Boston, New York, California, Washington (state) and Arizona. Actually wanted to explore the south in the future but this is not going to happen.

Would rather visit Saudi.

How embarrassing for the land of the free.