INTENSITY²
Politics, Mature and taboo => Political Pundits => Topic started by: El on July 27, 2007, 08:56:56 AM
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OK, so I figured I ask around here and see if you guys had any ideas about an issue I've become recently aware of, and have more recently started to think it might actually be something that would be useful to gain attention for if I had any way to.
Here is my understanding of this: In the U.S., abortion is legal, at least partially under the premise that it's a woman's body and her right to choose. Further, teen abortions are legal, although some states require parental permission. OK, fine. I do believe abortions should be legally available.
Here's the thing that blows my mind. Apparently, while some doctors are totally OK with performing abortions on almost any woman, any age, a lot of doctors will not perform tubal ligations on women unless they have already had several children and/or are a certain (advanced) age. A friend of a friend learned about this the hard way.
The woman in question is a heavy drug user, and cannot remember to take the pill. Further, she dates assholes who do not use condoms and who would not be good for her children. The girl in question is, herself, too messed up to raise kids. She has had at least three children at this point, to my knowledge. She is too morally opposed to abortion to actually have one. Now, this woman (she's close to my age, perhaps five years older, if that) has gone to the doctor repeatedly and said ALL OF THIS, and asked to have her tubes tied. She actually said "I am a bad mother. I should not have children." The response: "Have another kid. Go on welfare."
Apparently this is not uncommon for doctors to do- to deny an adult woman a typically reversable medical procedure which would give her control over her own reproduction. Either that or the friend I know of the woman who has had three or more children through is also getting hosed. My friend has poor health, a less-than-perfect reproductive system, and does not want children. She is twenty-four years old. No doctor that she has contacted yet will perform a tubal ligation on her. Luckily the friend is on the pill and she's good with it, but the pill does kind of mess up her already fragile health.
Having said all this- does anyone know exactly what the deal with this is, in the U.S. and/or in Massachusetts? If this is some actual official policy, how would I go about trying to get awareness for it? If it's not an official policy, how would I go about getting awareness that it is not? To me, it seems like if abortion is legal, then a tubal ligation should be legal for an adult woman, seeing as, with the tubal ligation, there is really NO QUESTION that it is her body.
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I don't have any advice to offer you sorry, but it seems to be the same in the UK its hard to get a Dr to agree to this unless you already have kids and are consider 'old' enough to know your own mind ::)- even when Dunc wanted a vasectomy I had to go with him to the GP so she could make sure that I was happy for him to go ahead with it too.
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Are the hospitals the doctors work at run by churches?
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It would be pretty fucked up if people started having back-alley sterilisations after their abortion at the clean and shiny clinic.
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Anybody know of any venues to get attention etc for a cause in general? I can't think of naything other than that insane web site devoted to petitions for everythign under the sun including getting TV shows to run for another season. There's got to be something that would seem a little more respectable. Writing a letter to some higher-up doesn't seem like a good first step; I'd like to figure some way to raise awareness, or something. I don't even know how to go about finding out what the actual policy for it in MA is, let alone the US in general.
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BTW- I hold no hope for actual results. I'd still kind of like to actually give it a decent effort anyway though if it's possible.
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How about writing to your senator or whatever the US equivalent to an MP is?
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... even when Dunc wanted a vasectomy I had to go with him to the GP so she could make sure that I was happy for him to go ahead with it too.
WTF? Could he have gotten one, if unmarried?
Or would he need a note from his mother?
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How about writing to your senator or whatever the US equivalent to an MP is?
Good call, but these don't tend to do much.
I'd guess that it's something which would
focus more on a local level.
Contact the ACLU, and see if they are doing anything
towards this. But, doctors have a right to refuse to
perform a procedure that they believe is unnecessary.
If this is the case, a place like planned parenthood might
know of doctors willing to perform the operation.
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... even when Dunc wanted a vasectomy I had to go with him to the GP so she could make sure that I was happy for him to go ahead with it too.
WTF? Could he have gotten one, if unmarried?
Or would he need a note from his mother?
I don't know what would have happened if he was single and my reaction when told I'd have to go in with him to talk to the GP about it was pretty much the same as yours. Its fucking insane that people don't seem to be trusted with making decisions about their own fertility.
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The doctors are probably terrified of being sued if the patient changes their mind afterwards.
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The doctors are probably terrified of being sued if the patient changes their mind afterwards.
Yeah or angry wives/girlfriends who've finally figured out why they can't get pregnant. :laugh:
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The doctors are probably terrified of being sued if the patient changes their mind afterwards.
Yeah or angry wives/girlfriends who've finally figured out why they can't get pregnant. :laugh:
But, they CAN. Damn, whaddya think the milkman's for?
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Email John Stossel.
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The doctors are probably terrified of being sued if the patient changes their mind afterwards.
Yeah or angry wives/girlfriends who've finally figured out why they can't get pregnant. :laugh:
But, they CAN. Damn, whaddya think the milkman's for?
Then the husband sues the doc for not doing it right.
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If I were the doctor, I would be thinking, "Okay, she's basically coming to me saying she sucks too much at making decisions to not make this potentially permanent decision to remove herself from the gene pool." Weird logic if you think about it. On top of that, I don't see how you could stir up a commotion, because as far as I'm aware most doctors have authority over which procedures they feel comfortable performing (as long as the patient's life isn't in danger), as concerning sex change operations and abortions (the same argument could be applied to the former, but it isn't). Not like there's some kind of law against it. Does a person have to go through the same thing to get a vasectomy?
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I found this information from Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/centerDetails.asp?id=1017
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/birth-control-pregnancy/birth-control/tubal-sterilization.htm
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I found this information from Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts.
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/centerDetails.asp?id=1017
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/birth-control-pregnancy/birth-control/tubal-sterilization.htm
thank you. :)
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I'd like to figure some way to raise awareness, or something. I don't even know how to go about finding out what the actual policy for it in MA is, let alone the US in general.
first step: burn your bra.
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I'd like to figure some way to raise awareness, or something. I don't even know how to go about finding out what the actual policy for it in MA is, let alone the US in general.
first step: burn your bra.
Sorry, I'm too cheap for that.
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I'd like to figure some way to raise awareness, or something. I don't even know how to go about finding out what the actual policy for it in MA is, let alone the US in general.
first step: burn your bra.
Sorry, I'm too cheap for that.
second step: recruit a bunch of lesbians for your cause.
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step three: after you have gained awareness then you need a test case to bring before the supreme court.
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UNfortunately I'd wind up getting too distracted by step 2. :P
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UNfortunately I'd wind up getting too distracted by step 2. :P
But then you'd have OTHER attentions to play with,
and needn't worry so much.
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all i am saying is that you should use the example of Roe v. Wade.
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That's a really interesting question. Have you tried looking up the state medical association to see if there's any official policy on this? I'm fairly certain it's not a law. I think it's probably a CYA move on the doctor's part. A friend of mine had it done at around 21-22, but she had to sign alll kinds of waivers stating she couldn't hold the doctors responsible if she changed her mind, etc. She also had to shop around to several different practices before she could find a doctor who would consider it even with the waivers.
Has she considered an IUD at all? It's nearly as effective as sterilizaiton and there's nothing to remember for 5-10 years, depending on which model she chose. Of course some people who are morally opposed to abortion are also morally opposed to an IUD, so maybe that's a long shot.
I don't have any names/websites off the top of my head, but to bring attention to the issue you'd probably want to talk to organizations that deal with reproductive rights.