First, a little background. Yesterday morning, I read on the lovely Keiko's blog this inspiring post entitled, "Um, why does the government hate women so much?" (which you should totally go read... as soon as you finish here, I mean). She explains why, no matter your political affiliation, you should care about reproduction and women's health-related legislation. I'm one of those politically-inclined people (read: obsessed), so I was familiar with most of the stories, except the last one.
I stumbled across it again later on Think Progress. A state legislator from Georgia has proposed a bill that would require women in Georgia who had a miscarriage to prove that it occurred naturally - at the risk of facing felony charges (and ironically the penalty could be, yep, death). State authorities would be required to investigate the miscarriage, and hospitals would be required to report it. A fetal death certificate would have to be created and a roll of miscarriers would be kept. Hence my open letter. But first a great big TMI warning. I'm getting graphic here, folks.
Dear Rep. Franklin:
I don't live in Georgia, but if I did, you'd probably consider me a repeat offender. Maybe even a felon. You see, I've had three of what you gamely refer to as "spontaneous abortions." I don't like to call them that myself, because use of the term abortion implies I had some choice in the matter. The truth is, I would give anything for a baby, but instead I just have unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss. I'm guessing you've never had a personal experience with miscarriage, but I can assure you, it's devastating.
Let me tell you a personal story. One I've never blogged about, but a story that many women have privately experienced. When I was told in the Emergency Room that my third pregnancy was not viable - that I lost my baby at nine weeks - I was given pills to help expel the tissue and a plastic specimen container to collect it in. I took the pills, waited several hours, and then got in the bathtub to try to pass the tissue. I'm sorry for the graphic detail, but if you want to force miscarriage investigations, I assume you're not too squeamish to read about it. Using my pelvic muscles, I squeezed the tissue out into the cup (it didn't look like a baby, in case you were wondering), put the cup in a paper bag, and put the bag in the refrigerator. On the next business day, I got the bag out of the refrigerator and took it for a surreal ride on the bus. Once I got to my doctor's office, I rode in the elevator with a happy couple holding their new baby in a carseat while I held mine in a baggie. I will never get over that.
And then, you know what? I didn't even learn anything from the tissue. At least the experience of taking it in for testing was my choice. I haven't learned why my miscarriages might have happened from all the blood tests I've taken either. Tests that were, again, my choice to undergo. I also got to choose who I shared with that I've had miscarriages. For most women, it's a very private matter. They feel guilty, even when they did everything they possibly could to have a healthy pregnancy. They wonder if they did something wrong, and your bill suggests that they just might be right. They just might be criminals. So everyone should know they had a miscarriage (or three), so we can all be vigilant against those abortions that just might not have been as spontaneous as advertised.
Now, I don't really think your bill is going to pass. While I disagree with this and other attempts to limit and criminalize abortion, I can at least understand the sentiment behind it. But when an estimated 20% or more of pregnancies end in miscarriage, I cannot understand why you believe that traumatizing so many innocent and grieving women - subjecting them to investigations and making them face the fear of felony charges, of testifying in a criminal trial, of the death penalty! - shows a respect for life.
Sincerely,
a concerned citizen
