Georgia (USA) makes abortion punishable by life imprisonment.

[Oldstyle]

New legislation HB 481 only allows abortion up to 6 weeks. It has massive consequences for women who get abortions from doctors or miscarry. A woman who seeks out an illegal abortion from a health care provider would be a party to murder, subject to life in prison. And a woman who miscarries because of her own conduct—say, using drugs or alcohol while pregnant—would be liable for second-degree murder, punishable by 10 to 30 years’ imprisonment. Prosecutors may interrogate women who miscarry to determine whether they can be held responsible; if they find evidence of culpability, they may charge, detain, and try these women for the death of their fetuses.

Even women who seek lawful abortions out of state may not escape punishment. If a Georgia resident plans to travel elsewhere to obtain an abortion, she may be charged with conspiracy to commit murder, punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment. An individual who helps a woman plan her trip to get an out-of-state abortion, or transports her to the clinic, may also be charged with conspiracy to end of the life of a “person” with “full legal recognition” under Georgia law.

This is a shocking assault on women's health, autonomy and reproductive rights. The intention to 'interrogate' women who miscarry to check for 'blame' is inhuman. Apparently 28 other states are intending to follow Georgia's lead.

The first time a legal challenge occurs this will all fall tits over arse.

This is such a horrific, horrific bill. I miscarried at 12.5 weeks three hours after I’d seen my baby’s heart beating on the screen. I was utterly devastated as it had taken us a long time to conceive; to be hassled and interrogated after that would have been beyond my endurance. What about the mothers, myself included, who don’t know they’re pregnant until 5 or 6 weeks? What if you’ve had a few drinks or cigarettes before you found out? Or done anything AT ALL that these fucking dangerous idiots think might not fit with their idea of “perfect mother”. We all know how women are viewed in, say, rape cases. Everything is picked apart.

I have no trouble whatsoever imagining a devastated woman in the dock being questioned by the prosecution following a miscarriage. Her knickers being exhibited; Mrs A, can you tell us if you think black lacy knickers are suitable underwear for a pregnant woman? We also note you were in a bar drinking alcohol at 1.5 weeks pregnant. It’s obvious to us you’ve procured an abortion...and on and on

These men should be nowhere near any sort of laws. The lack of basic understanding is terrifying.

a major step backwards ,woman will die.America already has terrible standards for maternal death rate.

Presumably, this also includes rape victims?

It's the start of the Handmaids tale, only horrible, horribly true.

"Blessed be the fruit...."

The first time a legal challenge occurs this will all fall tits over arse.

No it won't.

This is all just a pre cursor to overturning Wade v Roe now the republicans have a majority on the Supreme Court.

Arguably they WANT a legal challenge to do exactly that.

Beamur Thu 09-May-19 15:08:48
Will doctors be obliged to report women? If so, I can see women who are miscarrying choosing not to seek medical attention. Women will die as a result of this.

How would that work with patient/doctor confidentiality?

Yes I agree with Red. The time is right now.

Women will die as a result of this.

Yep.

But they will be the 'women who deserved it, because they sinned'.

Or the women who shouldn't breed because they are a burden on society.

Or just the women who have the wrong skin colour and aren't really proper Americans and shouldnt get healthcare at all because they should be sent back to where they came from.

Take your pick: the nutty religious justification or the ultra capitalist justification or the rascist justification.

The marriage of the three is an unholy union. Its here for at least a generation now. Trump won't go in 2020. Not without a fight.

No-one will ever get an abortion.

2 weeks - embryo doesn't exist yet
3 weeks- the deed
4 weeks - those who are regular MAY notice a missed period
5 weeks - most regular women would have noticed but that now takes us to heart beat territory, in the time it would take to get your head round it, make a decision and try to get in the doctors as well as the referral needed... a heartbeat will exist.

They may as well have banned them altogether the absolute monsters.

As for questioning those who have miscarriages... are they going to ask if they smoked or drank before they found out they were pregnant? Will this mean they're culpable? It's fucking disgusting. Women need to move from Georgia. It is not a safe place for them.

Yes, it includes pregnancy in cases of rape or incest. A number of commentators are suggesting that the state legislators know that it will be challenged but that's the intention. They can then take it to the Supreme Court (now firmly in the hands of anti-abortion right-wingers) and thus overturn Roe vs Wade by the back door.
It's truly terrifying for American women. And driven by misogyny.

I'll bet the wives of pastors and politicians won't be subject to interrogation after a miscarriage.

I hope that medics will invent a way to record miscarriages in some other way to spare women the indignity and trauma.

As there no groups of women in Georgia protesting the absurdity of this law? 6 weeks pregnant is only 2 weeks late. It’s just not practical.
There must be many men who also would not feel comfortable with this situation for their daughters, girlfriends etc.

Does anyone have a link to where this information is being made available?

The miscarriage law is the same as countries like El Salvador and Honduras.

I take care of women having miscarriages, so I was seething thinking about this going to bed last night and I was imagining all the conversations I would have to have in my head.

In the end I decided I just wouldn't be able to do my job anymore. I wouldn't be able to throw these women to the wolves. We get a lot of missed miscarriages, there's no hiding that because the meds need to be prescribed and/or surgery. There'll be a paper trail we can't bodge like we could with a spontaneous miscarriage (I would personally record PV bleed)

No surprise to learn that Georgia also has one of the worst records in the USA for prenatal healthcare.
I'm so angry about this.

Apparently there is a fightback against it in some states:

'In a countermove, lawmakers in a growing number of states are racing to amend state constitutions to provide a backstop for the possible overturn of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established a woman’s right to an abortion.

Vermont on Tuesday passed a bill that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, with similar legislation in the works in 12 other states, including New Mexico, Nevada and Rhode Island.'

www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/georgia-governor-signs-heartbeat-bill-giving-the-state-one-of-the-most-restrictive-abortion-laws-in-the-nation/2019/05/07/d53b2f8a-70cf-11e9-8be0-ca575670e91c_story.html?utm_term=.0ab012bb4e63

Yet men can rape children and coerce women to be kept in cages and serve no jail time in America. And let’s not even mention men erasing women’s sports, spaces and even the words to describe ourselves.

This is a deliberate, systematic dissolution of women’s rights.

DpWm the link I posted covers it

Wtaf

I just can't...

This will kill women.

Apparently this is an attempt to strike down Wade v Roe. If it gets taken to supreme court, with the folk trump have put there WvR may get quashed and that's a bad bad bad thing.

And one of the worst records for maternal mortality. Absolute bastards the lot of them.

Awful to see this deliberate rolling back of women's rights - and not just by the right but the left as well.

Terrifying.

Absolutely awful.