Ohio has passed a bill preventing access to public funds for abortion. The poorest of Ohio's women will be affected by this decision. I quote from Feminist Daily News: "House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty (Democrat) decried the bill for cutting off funds to clinics that, in addition to providing abortions or abortion referrals, also provide treatment for sexually transmitted infections and other reproductive health care" Well, Duh.
It should be obvious even to hardened Radfems like me that if the government can restrict access to public funds for abortion for the women most likely to desperately need it, they don't really care overly-much about treating and preventing STIs within this same social group. It's all about the control and the humiliation of women, folks!
Quote continues: "Beatty also criticized the bill for not allowing exceptions for poor women seeking abortions for mental or physical health reasons. "If a woman's pregnancy is a threat to a woman’s mental health, she is out of luck....If a woman’s pregnancy is a threat to her physical health, and would even leave her disabled, that is too bad. This bill shows no mercy for women in any kind of desperate situation." Again, I have to ask, did you really expect anything different? Is there ever likely to be any room for negotiation within a bill that wants to deny medical care to financially and politically powerless women? The answer is a resounding No, and here's why: Exceptions for any reason leave potentially exploitable loopholes and the women-hating, anti-choicers who drafted this bill know that. Exceptions lead to opportunities, opportunities lead to choice and choice often leads to power. And for now, that power is the single thing that the anti-choicers most wish to deny the impoverished women of Ohio.
The anti-choicers have clear goals: to control and humiliate, to neglect and weaken. It's tactical warfare against women and we need to fight back hard.
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