I've been on the moderate side of pro-life for a good twenty years. My reasons are not religiously motivated. I hold a high regard for life, and as such have never been fond of abortions. I've worried that, with unfettered access to abortions, the procedure would become routine to the point where the choice would become as mundane as plucking one's eyebrows. If choosing to end a life before birth became a cheap decision, perhaps a life after its birth will become equally as cheap.
I find it horribly ironic - and very distressing - that many of those who most profess to protect the fetus care considerably less for it once it is born. My pro-life beliefs do not suffer because of this; Some pro-lifers are simply assholes. There are some who believe that life begins at the moment of conception or fertilization. My pro-life beliefs do not suffer from this, either; most pro-lifers themselves do not believe that hash. And many pro-lifers with more than an IQ of six are well aware that birth control, much of which would be banned under personhood laws, is one of the most effective ways to lower the number of abortions. These "personhood" amendments have failed miserably in Colorado and Mississippi, and I presume they will continue to do so.
The latest arrow in the pro-life quiver, however, chills me to the bone. In Virginia, the House of Delgates and the State Senate have passed a bill that would require women seeking abortion to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound, so they presumably can see the fetus. Transvaginal ultrasounds were specifically chosen because typical ultrasounds, applied outside of the body, can't get a clear image of a fetus early in gestation. To require a transvaginal ultrasound pretty much guarantees that an image will be there for doctor and woman to see.
Having witnessed a transvaginal ultrasound, allow me to explain something to you folks out there. We're not talking about a miniature flashlight here:
Here's an idea how long it is:
While this is undoubtedly a miracle of technology for those happy couples able to see their offspring for the very first time, its use to others is far more sinister, nothing less than emotional abuse.
While subbing at a high school today, I looked out at the students around me. The room had about twenty high school girls at one point. I thought about them - according to the statstics, about one in five would be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. Assuming these random four would be of childbearing age when this horror occurred, it was quite possible that one or more of those victims could be impregnated by their attacker. If the Virginia bill were the law of the land here, and they wanted an abortion, they would be literally forced to take this probe into their bodies, with a doctor or sonogram technician - legally forced under the threat of prosecution - to do this to them, in order to emotionally beat them down even more than they already were.
I oppose abortion, but every moral nerve in my body screams in anger against this outrage. This bill in its current form would, if enacted, effectively legalize a form of sexual coercion - that is, rape. Think I'm exaggerating? Here's the World Health Organization's definition of rape:
"...physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration – even if slight – of the vulva or anus, using a penis, other body parts or an object."
In case you think the United Nations is trying to control us all with black helicopters or probes, here's our own State Department's definition of rape:
“The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
Sure, you say, the pregnant woman is consenting to this procedure, in exchange for the abortion she wants. Perhaps, but if she is doing so under the threat of prosecution, is that not coercion?
When a member of the Virginia House of Delegates introduced a bill that would require the woman's consent to the transvaginal procedure, it was soundly voted down. This law will most likely pass before the month is up.
Pro-lifers in support of this have crossed the line of decency. This is state-sponsored barbarism, plain and simple. Pro-lifers have lost the moral compass, trading in the protection of life for the blind pursuit of power over women. (Isn't rape, after all, a crime of dominance and power?) Their attacks on contraception (including Rick Santorum's repeated suggestions that states should have the right to ban birth control) betray many pro-lifers' true purpose, and it has little to nothing to do with the unborn.
This is my message, as a pro-lifer, to those who support the Virginia legislation, as well as pending legislation in Texas and other states: you are disgusting. You lack morals. And you lack souls.