Civil Liberty for Pregnant Women

Yesterday while driving home from Miss Molly’s Bakery & Café, which is only a couple blocks away {but it was raining and I had my laptop with me, so don’t judge}, the radio was tuned to NPR. I heard a story within that two-block drive that had me boiling by the time I walked in my door.

Civil Liberty for Pregnant Women lacking in Wisconsin

Somewhere in Wisconsin this pregnant woman told her Ob/Gyn {that’s “obstetrician-gynecologist for you man-types out there}that she used to be heavy into illegal drugs, but that for the health of her baby, she had quit and been done with that for a while now.

Sounds like a good plan, right? Yay for mama making such an awesome choice!

At some point she had to see a different Ob/Gyn {not sure why, but that’s not the point of this story, so who cares?}, who saw the note about previous drug use in her record and decided this mama was UNFIT. So she called the cops.

Under normal circumstances, you would think the cops might do a drug test or whatever, find she was clean, and give the interloper a scathing WTF for being all uppity and nosy and whatnot.

But this was not normal circumstances. The cops nabbed her, examined her, and detained her. Notice I say “detained”. That’s important to the story, because it’s vital you understand she was never under arrest.

The drug-free mama-to-be was placed in a holding cell, and the next day she was ushered off to court — where upon coming before a judge she found that her fetus already had a lawyer. Why didn’t the mama have a lawyer? Because she wasn’t entitled to one.

WHAT?

That’s right. Mama wasn’t entitled to one, because she wasn’t under arrest, therefore the state did not have to supply her with a lawyer, and the state likewise did not have to allow her access to her own lawyer {assuming she even had one}.

Mama was sent to a drug rehab center — where, it should be added, she wasn’t even receiving the care that all these do-gooders were so concerned about in the first place! She spent several days there before enough of a public outcry forced the state to release her. 

No Civil Liberty for Pregnant Women

I heard a second, similar, story.

A pregnant lady fell down a flight of stairs, and like any pregnant lady would, she ran to the hospital to ensure the baby was okay. The intake nurse really pressed Miss Trippy and asked all kinds of completely irrelevant questions. Like, for example, when she first found out she was pregnant, did Miss Trippy ever consider not going through with the pregnancy? Miss Trippy answered honestly that, yes, when she first found out she was preggers, she considered have an abortion, because circumstances in her life weren’t ideal, but that OBVIOUSLY she decided against it — and oh yeah, IS MY FUCKING BABY OKAY, YOU JACK ASS?

The intake nurse decided she, too, would call the cops. So officers pull her over while she’s on her way home to the kids she already has and slap her ass in jail for attempted feticide. Seriously. I’m not even joking.

Again, public outcry forced this woman’s release. But the state issued a smug little statement indicating that they only let her go because she was only in her second trimester, and that if she’d been in her third trimester, they’d have let her rot in jail.

The question these stories bring to mind, and indeed the question asked by the interviewee during the radio program, is this:

When a woman becomes impregnated, does she instantly lose her civil rights?

 

In some states, the answer would appear to be a resounding YES. This disturbs me.

This should disturb you, too.

I am pretty sure this is America I’m living in, but when I hear these kind of stories, I have to wonder if I’m not stuck in some Third World Country.

Because if this is how we treat our women, we might as well still be living in the fucking Dark Ages.

How can the same nation that sent a man to the moon, that speaks of the American Dream and promotes freedom for all, that abolished slavery and allows all its citizens to vote — how can the nation capable of so much good and forward thinking, also treat its citizens in such criminal fashion?

 

Is this another case of “States Rights”?

Let’s talk about that for a minute. Let’s discuss how it’s okay to treat people like shit in ANY of our fine states. Let’s hold a meeting and go over our notes so we can come to some sort of agreement on how what happens across the border, but still within our country, is none of anyone’s business. Let’s get on our computers and Google the shit out of States Rights.

Because I really want to know how anyone thinks it’s okay for anyone in America to throw a woman in jail for falling down a flight of stairs. I don’t give a shit WHAT state that happened in. I don’t.

This is America, fuckers.

We are supposed to protect our own — even from each other, if that’s what it takes.

How can we claim to be the strongest country in the world and still argue about how women should be treated here in our own homeland?

How can we teach our daughters to be strong-willed, intelligent, self-disciplined, motivated young ladies if we have to also tell them to avoid certain states because our country is too fucked up to get it right in certain backwoods areas?

How can we say to each other, “We are all created equal, and we all have the right to pursue happiness,” when shit like this is going down within our own borders?

How can anyone be okay with taking away the legal rights of its citizens?

I fear for my daughter.

I fear that, in a culture where we are being taught that “Rape Culture” is not really a thing {but, um, it is, and if you’re a woman who hasn’t been raped or don’t know someone who has been raped then the likelihood is that you just don’t know about it}, she risks not knowing whether or not to report if something inappropriate has happened to her.

I fear that, in a culture where we look the other way if it’s not happening in our own backyards, she could accidentally hurt herself during pregnancy and go to jail for it.

I fear that, in a society that would rather look away than actually do the “weird” thing and lend a helping hand, she could end up in an abusive relationship and not be able to get out of it.

Wanting Civil Liberty for Pregnant Women doesn’t mean I hate men.

People might read into all this and say I hate men, and that I’m teaching my daughter to hate men, too. That’s only partially true. I don’t just hate men — I hate people in general, regardless of sex, color, religion, orientation, or political stance.

I hate people who are ass-hats.

I hate people who are bullies and say that bullying doesn’t exist.

I hate people who judge me for my eccentric ways, which generally involve calling out bullshit.

I hate jerk-faces who try to force their ideas on others when the original party was doing just fine, not hurting anyone.

I hate people who wake up one morning and collectively decide to hate on Nickelback like they got some fucking memo that I missed.

I hate people who decided, likewise, that pointy-toed shoes are attractive, when in actuality they are the ugliest bullshit I’ve ever fucking seen.

I hate people who tell me to “get over it” when there is a bit “IT” which needs to be fixed before any “getting over” can be accomplished.

I hate people who tell me to “get over it” who clearly haven’t gotten over shit themselves.

I hate hypocrites.

I hate liars.

I hate greedy motherfuckers.

I hate racist shitheads.

I hate child abusers and molesters.

I hate rapists.

I hate passive-aggressive emotionally manipulative bitches.

I hate people who have money talking to me about their money problems when clearly they’ve never had to worry about their utilities getting shut off.

I hate people who believe their version / interpretation / faith of God should be the one we all agree to, so they build laws around their versions / interpretations / faiths and tell the rest of us to jump in or else we’re shitting on their religious freedom.

I hate people who are doing pretty good in life so have no idea what it’s like to struggle so they tell me to simmer down because clearly “I’m just inviting in misery” even though the misery was already there if the complacent so-n-so only opened her eyes..

I hate people who make everything a fucking contest — “Been there, done that” — “Oh, you’re excited about something? Let me shit on it and then follow up with why my story is way more exciting than yours!”

I hate people who say, “Get a job, you bum!” when it’s not like jobs are falling off trees, and anyway, if you ever fucked up your credit, you’re kind of screwed because employers look at all that crap now.

I hate…

Well, shit. I could go on and on.

Clearly I hate a lot of people and I hate a lot of things. And clearly a lot of those people are men. But a lot of them are women, too.

I’m an Equal Opportunity Hater : Everyone has a chance to prove to me why they don’t suck.

To say I’m teaching my daughter to hate men is incorrect.

I know some fine men. My hubz and my son are two of the best men I know. I know a lot of other men who aren’t too bad, either.

I’m not teaching my daughter to hate anyone.

I’m teaching my daughter to be kind to everyone, regardless of what they look like or what they believe. I’m teaching my daughter to be generous, to share, to have a sweet heart and a positive outlook. I’m teaching my daughter that YES, sometimes people suck, but they are just one person in one day and there are many more who DON’T suck.

I’m teaching my daughter that while it’s wonderful to be a woman, to be careful, because women aren’t always valued in this country {check the pay scale if you refuse to argue with me about the prevalence of rape}. I’m teaching my daughter to plan ahead and around obstacles. I’m teaching my daughter to be hopeful that things improve, but to come to terms with the fact that it probably won’t happen in our lifetimes.

And I’m telling my daughter to avoid certain states. Because America isn’t safe for women everywhere.

Like in Wisconsin, apparently.

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