I’m constantly amazed by the breadth of information I find on various web pages, but tonight my amazement quickly turned to abhorrence. While casually perusing one of the many link sites I frequent I discovered an entry which disgusted me on many different levels.
The link referenced a web page which I suspect had been authored by a medical professional of some kind. The author addressed the page to the citizens of South Dakota, and on this page resides detailed medical instructions on how to perform an abortion.
The author states “I am posting this as information only. Whether anyone chooses to act upon this information is their own concern. I believe in the free exchange of information and ideas. I believe this information has been kept from women for too long, and there is no reason they should not know about a procedure being performed on their own body, and no reason women should be kept in the dark about how to perform it — especially if someone they know is having their health jeopardized by this law.” .
I’m not providing a link, so don’t even ask. I found it accidentally so I’m sure if you really want to read it you won’t have any problem locating it, or others like it.
As everyone probably knows, South Dakota passed legislation banning abortions just this week, and the law criminalizing the procedure goes into effect on July 1st. My stomach turns just thinking about the road that lay ahead of our country, and if articles like that are any indication of what awaits us then we’re in a hell of a lot of trouble. Back-alley abortion clinics will seem safe and somewhat quaint compared to what will happen now that any jackass with a net connection possesses the ability to download a set of abortion instructions in an easy to print format.
This is why allowing states to determine abortion laws will never work. Something this big that impacts the emotional and physical well-being of so many people needs to be a right guaranteed on a national level.
I’m disgusted that someone so irresponsibly wrote and posted that article. I’m disgusted that the morally righteous lawmakers of South Dakota are playing games with the health of their female constituents. I’m disgusted that we’ve been having the same fucking argument for half a century. I’m disgusted that in our age of technological and medical innovation people are still having unplanned pregnancies.
For all our self-aggrandizement and moral braggadocio we’re still a barbaric and hateful society, and maybe the late hour is adversely affecting my outlook, but right now entropy seems like a pretty damn good idea.