Could they be anymore condescending and paternalistic? No one should be able to dictate where you go to get your health care information. They really do think women are stupid.

Going to a pregnancy center seems out of line with me, but I see no problem with asking a woman to see a councler once or to wait three days. It’s only three days, I support encouraging women not to make spur of the moment decisions (and saying that NO woman could ever make a quick decision to get an abortion is just stupid). Are you saying that giving a woman an opportunity to really thing about what she’s doing is bad? It’s a major, irriversably thing and if a woman really wants to have an abortion and has already spent time thinking it through, she won’t change her mind in 3 days. As for the counceler thing that some states do, I support that too. It’s like a saftey net for people in bad situations who think they have no choice, for people who may have a mental problem that may cause them to make spur of the moment decisions, or even for people in an abusive situation. And if a woman has made the decision herself and really considered it, would one conseling session and a 3 day wait really change her mind? She couldn’t have been very certain if so.

Even better…PP flies the doctor in ONCE A WEEK, so that means two trips would be necessary. Undue burden to receive a LEGAL medical procedure.

That’d be nice Goddess, but she has to have one appt w/the doctor and then come back 3 days later for another appointment for the termination. It boggs up the out of town docs’ time with “counseling” as well as puts a significant barrier up for the women. I wonder if it has to be the *same* doc as well, that might make it hard for PP to get clinicians in there on a regular schedule as well.

So because the odd woman here or there might make a decision she regrets (and considering what it takes to get an abortion, money, time, and travel a woman who makes a quick decision might happen, but one who can make it happen quickly is highly unlikely) all women need to have a waiting period? I don’t think so. The clinics I’m aware of have counseling available on site. Either you trust women or you don’t. Even if a woman makes a quick decision, it is hers to make. End of story.

You’re taking the life of a child, for whatever reason. Three days is too much? The fact that women who are doing this don’t want to spend even one second contemplating or justifying their actions speaks volumes. If the death of a child is an absolute necessity, it should be easy to justify. Says a lot about why women kill their own children.

how would these idiots like it if they were forced to listen to dawkins, or hitchens all day. this is an absolute invasion of privacy. i always thought that there was something wrong with folks in red staates now i have proof. rethug taliban at it’s worse. what’s to stop some untrained fake healthcare person at these “crisis” centers from spilling ttheir guts to their neighbor’s about your personal business. that women in sd stand for this type of religious male dominated intrusion into women’s lives is unconscionable. thank gdodness i live in a wonderful blue state where women aren’t being devalued. the women of sd need to wake up. this will only affect poor/middle income women. women of means always have and always will find a way to get an abortion. come to maryland we value women

I’m adopted and I’m pro-choice! I think this new law is horrendous for SO many reasons:

The state will find (but have no official numbers so they’ll just count them as “prevented”) that women who live closer to bordering states will just go out of state instead of wasting time that could affect their ability to even receive a safer abortion as Andrea #1 pointed out – or an abortion all if the time is close to the cut off. This will give the stats on the new law false positive numbers on abortion numbers, which is all the lawmakers are going to look at. More important to see those numbers drop if you’re anti-abortion, right? Then other states, and there are many waiting in the wings to see if the numbers drop in SD, will see the artificially deflated number of abortions and jump on board – that scares me even more!

This law, in its totality, is ridiculous! Why can’t they, if nothing else, arrange for virtual counselling via the internet? They could still make sure the person they’re speaking to is the mother, and the hope of fewer deaths in the winter would be a blessing. They could create a document certified by the doctor stating the date that they had their “chat” and the woman could then take that to PP to show they’ve had their three day “post counselling consideration” period. Many of these women aren’t jumping in right when they find out they’re pregnant so I’m going to take a guess here that they have already spent *plenty* of time considering their options (special circumstances withholding).

Let’s not forget to mention winter! Has anyone here experienced a SD winter? Roads covered, or worse yet,clogged with snow, and even worse, ice! Most native residents can still handle it because they’ve experienced it (grant them safety if they aren’t!) but now they have to make the treacherous journey *twice* – that puts not only the mother in jeopardy, but whomever is with her as well! Also, what if she makes the appointment, gets there through sheer will and determination on the roads…just to find out that they couldn’t fly the doctor in that day!

I think the whole law is such a crock, but they REALLY need to find a way to make this safer for the women, and again any companions, to get the treatment they are lawfully entitled to!

Andrea #2 – would you expect a woman to carry the child of a rape victim, or a victim of incest? You trivialize the situation by your aloof dismissal of women receiving abortions by stating:

“You’re taking the life of a child, for whatever reason. Three days is too much? The fact that women who are doing this don’t want to spend even one second contemplating or justifying their actions speaks volumes. If the death of a child is an absolute necessity, it should be easy to justify. Says a lot about why women kill their own children.”

I was raped 4 years, 2 months and 1 day ago . If I had become pregnant, I would have terminated the pregnancy 1. Because within days I became terrified to leave my home and 2. Because the man that did it almost every day after the assault occurred, watched me (he lived across the street, police didn’t charge him, whole other story). He’d either watch through his blinds or stand, staring at my home *every day* until I moved 450 miles away…which was 9 months almost to the day from when it happened. The idea of not only having to carry this scumbag’s child (whether or not he was still stalking me) was beyond anything I could imagine.

To this day I still have nightmares and panic attacks and hearing his name or seeing someone who looks like him is enough to send me over the edge. So yep, I’m saying a lot as a women who would have ended her pregnancy, or as you so crudely put it, “Says a lot about why women kill their own children.” It was weeks before I could find out if he had impregnated me, and 3 weeks is a lot more than the 3 days to think about what to do if I *had* been pregnant.

I think my story is relevant because it happens way more often than anyone thinks because of unreported sexual assaults. This ridiculous 3 day wait and counselling is just another way that the government is sticking it to women, not just women in circumstances like mine – ANY woman. There’s plenty of time to think about things before you even know whether or not you even are pregnant – another 3 days will do nothing but cause aggravation and harm – I shudder to think that this could cause a mother to end her own life if she’s as shattered as I was.

I hope this post comes across the way I intended it to. I’m pro-choice in any situation – not just the ones you don’t want to think about. It’s nobody’s decision but the woman’s herself – and honestly I think the government needs to just back out of our lives and trust us that we’re making the decision in our own best interests. I’ve actually met my birth mother, we’re like 2 peas from the same pod that were separated for 34 years – but I’m still pro-choice.

There are so many facets to one issue (aka this idiotic law). Whether a woman receives an abortion, or decides to carry the child to term and puts the child up for adoption is, and should always be, the *woman’s* choice. This bill won’t change any minds, it just jeopardizes more lives in a situation where the mood is already somber.

PS – I think those were 2 different Andreas – not just the opposing posts, but the writing styles are completely different.