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in this corner the state of kansas

3/25/2013

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Tomorrow Kansas House Committees will hear HB2324. This bill is a fetal heartbeat bill and if enacted, would put the state at odds with the precedent set in Roe v. Wade.
HB2324 would outlaw abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected.  Typically this occurs sometime later in the first trimester, but can be detected as early as six weeks in some cases. There are several things that make this problematic. First of all, a lot of women don't even know they are pregnant until they are into the middle of the first trimester. This leaves very little time to make a decision, gather the resources and schedule an abortion.
Thanks to anti-choice zealots, restrictions on abortion are excessive and make the procedure much harder to obtain than it should be. This is on purpose. The set up waiting periods, threaten and drive providers out of business so you have to travel, force mandatory (often medically unnecessary) procedures, this is all an attempt to make it where it takes women too long to get things in order. Then they spring a heartbeat bill through and Boom! A woman who thought she was doing reasonably well getting everything arranged by the 10 week is told Sorry Sweetheart you are stuck, there's a heartbeat.  Then comes the double whammy, said woman who just told no - cannot proceed with an abortion even if she wants one, unless - she can go to a more reasonable state for medical care or there is a severe enough medical condition to justify an abortion. 
I have to say - the idea of forced pregnancy is repugnant to me. NO ONE has the right to use my body without my consent. NO ONE. Consenting to sex, does not equal consent to pregnancy and gestation, any more than driving down the road is consenting to being rear-ended. In both cases, people generally actively try to mitigate their chances of an accident - but well things happen. I guess people should just have to drive around in cars with their ass ends smashed in, because well - should have kept kept off the road.
This legislation is nothing more than yet another attempt by a group of zealots to control women. This has nothing to do with "saving babies" and nothing to do with women's health or any other bullshit concern. This has to do with punishing and controlling women. Particularly poor women. Rich women and their families will always have access to abortion, they can go out of state easily or even out of the country, if necessary - Legislators do not write these laws for people like them - they write them for people like us. People without the means to challenge it, without the means to go somewhere else - and that is what forced thousands of women to take matters into their own hands. We do not want to and will not go back to the days of coat hangers, back alley/black market providers and dead and dying women. Roe established that abortion is legal until viability - this law flies in the face of that precedent - but I fear that is the only purpose. 
I urge you to contact the Representatives named on the NEWS! page.  Thank you!

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If I would have had the time....

3/23/2013

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This morning I attended a Legislative Forum, must admit - this is the first one I've ever attended. I've attended a lot of events, even spied on some Tea Party events - but not the "you have two minutes, talk to us" kind of forum. There were so many concerned citizens there - that time was running low by the time I was able to speak. I am not a good public speaker and kept editing my thoughts for time. There was a lot more I wanted to say....so good thing I have this medium for that! So...without further ado! This is what my brain was really thinking when I spit out my 45 second rambling on SB 142 LOL 
Representatives and Senators - Thank you for being willing to spend your Saturday morning listening to your constituents. And also thank you for scheduling this before the first NCAA game of the day. 
As a woman of childbearing age (for a few more years, barring medical intervention), I am flattered by all of the attention the legislature has been paying to me and others like me. However, I have to say I think your concern is misplaced. I mean, I wish you cared as much for me as you do my potential reproductive capacity - that's really kind of Handmaid's Tale creepy... Instead of being worried about preventing me from having access to abortion (if I should ever need it), or making doctors tell me bogus info or hell letting them lie to me all together - how about making this state hospitable again. Stop your assault on the very services that women and families need to have families - maybe then I wouldn't think your concern was something out of a book that was required reading in high school.
HB 2253 has so many bad parts to it. Punishing medical providers that provide abortion care by taking away their sales tax exemption, requiring abortion providers to tell women that abortion is linked to breast cancer - which is FALSE! More needless regulation from a party and a state government that loves the fetus, but hates the child. 
Don't get me started on SB 142 - I expect to have an adversarial relationship with the Brownback administration and with many of you - I do not however expect to have an adversarial relationship with my doctor. I find it amusing that the same people that are so proud of crafting "women's right to know" requirements (most of which is information that is scientifically dubious at best), somehow thinks it's okay for a doctor to lie to a woman - if the doctor thinks the truth will cause a woman to have an abortion. Doctors are not mind readers - they have no way of knowing who will choose abortion and who will not - all this legislation does is allow ideological driven zealots to prevent women from even considering their constitutionally protected right to choose abortion. If a doctor is morally uncomfortable with the concept of treating women that may use the information they provide to opt for abortion - maybe they should find a new specialty. Please vote NO on HB 2253 and SB 142, oh and that heartbeat bill too!
I appreciate my chance to speak here today. All I ask is for this state to return to reason. We have been derailed by blind ideology for far to long.  

Thank you.
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We Stand With Them!

3/10/2013

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Today is National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn was assassinated on this date, starting the cycle of violence that culminated in the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, here in Wichita in 2009. These brave providers and their staff members sacrifice a lot to ensure that women and families have the right to choose. It is time for all of us that support abortion rights to stand with these providers. Without providers our Constitutionally protected right is nothing more than academic. 

The Trust Women Foundation is hard at work hiring doctors, staff members and renovating Dr. Tiller's former clinic. I wish to thank them all for their bravery, their dedication and their hardwork! 
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Let's Get This Clinic Open!
Currently, ProChoice Kansas is involved with a group of ProChoice activisists in a fundraiser for South Wind Women's Center. Any and all donations are appreciated! I'm currently at $1195 - really hoping to hit $2k! 

On a personal level - this clinic has to happen for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost, the women of this community have a right to comprehensive medical care and that includes abortion care, if they so choose. 
Secondly, because the terrorists in this community need to learn that their comprehensive campaign of intimidation ends now. Period. We can not let them win. 
And lastly, I'm reminded of a comment I read in the Wichita Eagle - questioning why any woman would want to go to a clinic for "regular" medical care that also provides abortion care....here's my answer.
I want a clinic that cares about me. Currently, in this state the legislature wants doctors to be able to lie to patients to prevent an abortion, they want women told erroneous information about breast cancer concerns - rather than focusing on the concerns of women. Why do women choose abortion? The reasons are as varied as the women that seek them. It should not be a situation of collusion between the state and a doctor to prevent a woman from exercising her constitutional right to choose. I want a doctor's office that is dedicated to caring for me, that respects me as a human being and trusts me to make the decisions that are best for me, my health and my family. 
I hope all of you that read this will make a contribution to South Wind Women's Clinic!
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    Nicki
    Just an average Kansas woman fighting for
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