(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Reproductive Rights are on the Ballot! [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-25 It’s only been 2 weeks since the Va General Assembly has reconvened and not one, but two 15 week abortion bans have already been introduced. One by Kathy Byron (R) in the House and Stephen Newman (R) in the Senate. It comes to NO surprise that neither of these legislatures have any medical or healthcare expertise or background and yet they’ve both decided to legislate the uteruses of Virginians, and we should be asking why? When we look at national statistics we know 93% of abortions occur on or before 12 weeks, 6% occur on or before 20 weeks and only 1% occur after 20 weeks, and these are families who were anticipating a child. When we create arbitrary laws that will clearly have little to no impact on abortions, we aren’t saving lives, we are causing healthcare providers to hesitate in dire situations. It has already been shown, in the state of TX, that doctors were forced to consult with lawyers when women have presented with membrane rupture, meaning the fetus will die, due to lack of amniotic fluid, within 24-72 hours, but since the fetus still had a heartbeat and the mother’s vitals presented normal, they could not immediately intervene, as they would normally. This action, or lack of action, due to these laws have led to blood loss, sepsis, loss of uterus, loss of consciousness and resulted in ZERO live births. History and data has proven time and again, access to healthcare, contraceptives, and education is the highest deterrent of abortion. I also want to address that neither of the currently introduced bills give any exceptions for fetal abnormality, which most families are not made aware of until 18-20 weeks of pregnancy. Imagine telling parents that their child will not survive the pregnancy, or if it does, it will not survive birth, but they are not able to make a decision as a family to terminate that pregnancy. Instead, forcing them to face questions from families, friends and perhaps their living children they already have, on why mommy continues to appear pregnant even though we will never bring home a new baby? These are the questions and realities these legislatures don’t want you to think about. These laws are nothing more than political grandstanding directed to their “pro-life” base, that doesn’t actually represent pro-life. We MUST remember we are living in a post-Roe era, and unless it is codified at a federal level, this will be a continued fight in the state house, and will mean we must hold the line in this November election and every election moving forward. Please follow and support me as I flip the new 71st District of Virginia blue 💙 secure.actblue.com/... [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/25/2149171/-Reproductive-Rights-are-on-the-Ballot Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/