A Condemnation of HB 1274: The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

As a progressive resident of Virginia, I found the election results of 2021 deeply concerning. Worries about losing ground on environmental, racial, and reproductive justice, especially have occupied my mind, and it didn’t take long for my concerns to be proven valid. Our recently inaugurated representatives have hardly settled in, the 2022 General Assembly barely begun, and already a resolution has been proposed that would ban abortion after 20 weeks, only allowing for exception when "the mother faces a risk of death or serious damage to a major bodily function.”

While this resolution is concerning, it is not surprising. It is part of a recent trend where Republicans use “late-term abortion” as a galvanizing issue, going so far as to claim that Democrats support abortions “up to and after birth,” a falsehood which has led to increased attempts to ban abortion after 20 weeks (or in some states, even earlier). But expending this much time and energy to ban abortion after 20 weeks makes no sense, as 99% of abortions take place before 21 weeks.

Looking at data from 2019:

• 92.7% of abortions were performed in the first 13 weeks
• 6.2% of abortions were performed between 14 and 20 weeks
• And fewer than 1% were performed at or later than 21 weeks

Republican calls for these bans are even more confusing and misplaced once we understand that many of the abortions occurring at or after 20 weeks are due to severe, often fatal, fetal anomalies not detected until later in the pregnancy. You can read some of the accounts of women who have found themselves seeking an abortion after 20 weeks for those very reasons here, here, here, and here. These women detail the absolute agony of being told the pregnancies they were invested in and intended to see through were not going to end with them bringing home the happy, healthy babies they had hoped for.

When faced with the knowledge that only 1% of abortions occur after 20 weeks, often for these heartbreaking reasons, these bans come across as empty lip service given at the expense of people who are already facing one of this world's greatest sorrows.

This is where the issue becomes increasingly personal for me. Last summer, my husband and I made the decision to add another child to our family, and we were ecstatic when we confirmed our pregnancy in October. But our excitement was quashed when the heartbeat we heard at our first sonogram was no longer beating at the next. We desperately want to try again, but after such a loss my mind cannot help but conjure the vast number of problems that might arise in a future pregnancy. Pair those possibilities with proposals like HB 1274, and you have the breeding ground for my greatest fear: learning of a serious fetal anomaly and being forced to see through a pregnancy where the child my husband and I already long for would not survive or would suffer a mental or physical impairment so grave that its quality of life would be utterly devastated.

My recent miscarriage was difficult enough, though it would have been much worse had I not had the support of a good doctor and the dignity of choosing for myself how to face it. I can only imagine the anguish of being denied the right to choose how to proceed after learning of a severe fetal anomaly or having to jump through hoops while dealing with restrictions that only prolonged my suffering or made the options unaffordable or inaccessible for me and my family.

Pregnancy is terrifying enough without adding this extra fear. And I must be honest: knowing the political climate is such that HB 1274 very well could become law has me questioning whether it is even wise to try again, no matter how much my husband and I long for another child.

 If the goal were to affect meaningful change to the abortion rate, we know there are more effective ways to do so than by making it harder for grieving families to navigate these tragedies. Studies continually show that access to affordable birth control and comprehensive sexual education drastically reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies, and these options, when examined "did not raise the risk of sexual activity among teens."

In fact, "what a number of studies shows is that by providing comprehensive sexuality education, young people actually delay the onset of sexual activity" and "for kids who are sexually active, the research shows that they participate in much safer practices." This same link refers to a review by United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, which "looked at 87 studies from around the world and found none of the programs led to earlier sexual activity in young people" (emphasis my own). Of eleven abstinence-only programs, only two led to "a delay in the initiation of sex."

Why do Republicans ignore what works and what doesn't? Policies that only hurt those who need to terminate wanted pregnancies does not help lower the rate of unwanted pregnancy. Attempts to ban the already rare abortions happening after 20 weeks misrepresent and outright ignore families that face a heartbreaking choice and villainize the medical professionals who assist them. It is unconscionable that politicians continue to weaponize these tragedies instead of creating policies that would help prevent unwanted pregnancies and ensure abortions can be attained earlier in pregnancy.

To that end, I wish to highlight the rising proportion of "early medical abortions" (abortions achieved via medication and not surgery, which can only be used up to the 11^th week of pregnancy). In 2019, this method was used for 43.7% of all abortions (42.3% by the 9th week and 1.4% in weeks 10 and 11). That number represents almost half of all abortions for that year and is a 123% increase from 2010, all while the abortion rate itself continues to fall. As awareness about these medications grows and they become more affordable and accessible, that proportion will only continue to climb.

 It is clear: When abortion services are affordable and accessible people do elect to use these services as early as they are able. Banning abortion after 20 weeks is unnecessary if we instead focus on ensuring the access and opportunity to so act. In fact, abortions performed after 20 weeks that are not related to fetal anomaly are largely caused when abortion seekers “experienced logistical delays (e.g., difficulty finding a provider and raising funds for the procedure and travel costs), which compounded other delays in receiving care.” When medical sociologists examined this information further, they found these women “had challenges finding a provider, getting necessary approvals from doctors in states that require them, or had financial constraints. All the women in the study traveled to other states to get the procedure done.” They tell us, “these are people who wanted an early abortion and tried to get one but were unable to do so because of the substantial obstacles that were placed in their path.”

The solution, then, is to address the obstacles contributing to these delays, thereby making it easier for these vulnerable populations to acquire abortions earlier in their pregnancies.

The points made here make it clear: Policies like HB 1274 are not necessary at best and are intentionally manipulative at worst. Those who support them only show themselves willing to further injure groups of people who are vulnerable or grieving, for little more than the acclaim of appearing to take a stand against abortion, all while ignoring actions that offer more significant results.

Those who promote these bans care more about appearing to be strong pro-life advocates than actually supporting their constituents, who will be harmed by such laws. To anyone versed in these matters, these proposals come across as mere tokenism to garner the support of those who are not informed about this topic, despite how easily information about it can be attained

Indeed, even the title of this resolution, The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, serves only to elicit an emotional response, evoking concern over the alleged pain a fetus might feel when an abortion takes place, all while ignoring that “rigorous scientific studies have found that the connections necessary to transmit signals from peripheral sensory nerves to the brain, as well as the brain structures necessary to process those signals, do not develop until at least 24 weeks of gestation. Because it lacks these connections and structures, the fetus does not even have the physiological capacity to perceive pain until at least 24 weeks of gestation.”

If protecting the “pain-capable unborn child” were truly the intention of this resolution, why would it be written to prohibit abortion a full four weeks before the capacity to feel pain is even possible? Could it be those writing such policies aren’t even concerned with whether they are informed, despite knowing their actions impact countless lives and have lasting effects? Or are they aware of the related facts and simply choose to ignore them?

Either way, it is our duty to condemn any such policies that are not grounded in fact and reason. Citizens of Virginia, please, write your representatives and urge them to oppose HB 1274.

 

 

One Instance of Accountability

 Yesterday my family and I breathed a sigh of relief as Derek Chauvin was found guilty on each of the counts facing him after murdering George Floyd. This morning, I awoke to learn of a sixteen-year-old Black honor student being killed by the police roughly thirty minutes before the Chauvin verdict was read. I can’t help but wonder if the officer responsible for her death will be held accountable. Such is a stark reminder that one instance of accountability doesn’t magically fix an entire broken system. 

This is a system that is so broken that many of us were talking about how nauseous and uneasy we were as we waited for the verdict to be made public. We felt that even though the whole world saw this murder with their own eyes (thanks to the dedication of 17-year-old Darnella Frazier), Chauvin being found guilty felt overwhelmingly unlikely to happen. A system so broken that it wasn’t a given that the right thing would be done, and many of us felt actual surprise over what should have been an obvious conclusion.

As glad as I am that the right call was made in this case, I am infuriated that we live in a society in which there is any doubt that the right call would be made. I am infuriated that it has taken so long, that so many before now have been denied seeing those responsible for the deaths of their loved ones face meaningful consequences or accountability. I am infuriated over and exhausted by the number of lives STILL being taken day after day. And I know what I feel isn’t even a fraction of what our Black and Brown brothers and sisters endure.  

It’s hard to celebrate the victories - even a victory as monumental as a jury finally standing up in a court of law to affirm that Black Lives Matter - when so much injustice is still piling up around us. And it’s harder still to celebrate when I end up wondering and worrying whether this will set a new standard – or, if it will be the rare exception to law enforcement not being held accountable for the taking of Black lives.  

Whichever it ends up being, the system still needs fixing. It still needs our voices and hands pushing for better. We can’t grow complacent in the face of one victory. We can take a moment to celebrate, as hard as that is to do, and then we must get back to work. Most immediately, we can contact our representatives to let them know we MUST pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. 

And if you find yourself wanting to do more than that, let me know by contacting me at Katie@ThePeacePentagon.net. Together, we can work to push the arc of history toward a future of justice. 

Fact-Checking Resource List

I had someone share a list of good fact-checking resources in one of my Facebook groups, so I made an infographic to make spreading the word easier.

Feel free to use and to pass around!

The Battle Is Over. Now Starts the War.

We did it. Joe Biden is our President-Elect. The nightmare of Trump’s presidency, at last, is coming to an end. When the election was finally called, I allowed myself a few days to breathe in the relief of the results before returning to look at some hard truths:

•          Almost a third of those eligible to vote did so for Trump – 73 million people (almost 10 million more than in 2016).
•          According to a Washington Post article, more Republicans voted for Trump this time around than in 2016 (with a jump from 88% to 94%).
•          More Black men voted for Trump this time, as well (up to 19% from the 13% four years ago – the most for a Republican since 1980).
•          Trump also gained Latinx voters in states like Florida and Texas (for a total of 47% and 41%, in those states, respectively).
•          More white women voted for Trump than did last time, too.

After four years of watching Trump and those around him, this election was not the repudiation we were hoping for. Seeing this certainly dampens the elation I want to feel. It also shows us that our work is just beginning.

Yes, we have spent the last four years resisting Trump, doing damage control while his dumpster fire of an administration hell-bent on targeting protections for minorities and the environment (etc.) ran rampant. But the real work starts when Biden steps in and takes the reigns. The energy we spent in survival mode these last four years now needs to be redirected.

And while there are many policies and actions we know we need to focus on, the real fight isn’t going to be passing and enacting them. Our challenge was never simply to fill government seats with enough people to push through our agenda, though I certainly believe we should achieve as much on that front as is possible. No, the war for the soul of our nation isn’t going to be fought in the chambers of Congress or from the seat of the Presidency. It’s going to be waged in the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens.

You see, the greatest challenge we face moving forward is the disappearance of Truth and the role this disappearance has played in the increased polarization of our country. Donald Trump is only part of that problem. His birther movement kick-started a decade of alternative facts that has devolved into outright conspiracy and alternative reality.

Over the last three election cycles, we have had a front-row seat as part of our populace has become radicalized right before our very eyes. Donald Trump was a large part of it – he certainly exacerbated it and used it to his advantage – but defeating Trump doesn’t defeat the misinformation and disinformation that now have a hold on so many people. Evicting him from the White House doesn’t evict these falsehoods from the residence they have taken up in our cultural mainstream.

Even more troubling, as our fellow Americans have been led to accept these falsehoods, they have also become more and more tribalistic, making them less and less willing to cooperate with the “other side.” So much so, that their now preferred social media platform, Parler, is filled with posts calling for the murder of those they see as the enemy. Some named targets include liberals, Democrats, “BLM people,” millennials, college professors, and those in the “news media.” “Stop the Steal” groups on Facebook are filled with posts calling for civil war before being shut down – those shutdowns being one of the reasons for the mass migration to Parler held on November 13.

As this segment of our population becomes increasingly radicalized, our political system will continue to be less and less effective, especially given that the system relies on bipartisan cooperation and common ground – things that have, for all intents and purposes, deteriorated to the point of non-existence. Without finding a way to bring people back to reality, our elections will continue to be tumultuous, and that demographic will continue to support more and more extreme candidates. Just look at QAnon supporters Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who were elected to Congress – and they are just two of the two dozen QAnon supporters found on the federal ballot this year.

So how do we re-establish Truth when things like fact-checking are considered a liberal conspiracy? When we recognize that facts don’t change people’s minds? The sad reality is, only relationships change perspectives. As stated in this article, “we develop our beliefs through our feelings, not our brains. And that’s how we’re changed as well: by connecting with others and having an emotional experience.”

This means that moving forward will require building bridges. It will require reaching across the divide to connect with the very people who have decided we are the enemy, who have spent the last 12 years growing increasingly hateful towards us and have supported policies and people who would (and have) harmed the most vulnerable among us.

If you’re cringing at that thought, please know I am, too. This whole situation leaves me conflicted. I hear those decrying the request for unconditional unity and sympathize with their reasoning. Just entertaining the idea feels like a betrayal of the marginalized and disenfranchised among us – the very people we’ve spent the last four years resisting with and for. My husband asks why we must always be the better people, and he compares reaching out to those who still support Trump as victims of abuse, who now must cooperate with their abuser. I am sure that comparison seems even more accurate for those who do not share the color of my skin.

So how do we balance the legitimate hurt and anger we feel for the injustices people have faced with the fact that our nation won’t begin to heal if we don’t work to rebuild relationships and re-establish common ground? How do we respect those who have been most harmed while undertaking this work? Certainly, we can’t ask them to take on such an effort. That feels too much like asking people of color to put an end to racism when that responsibility falls on the shoulders of those of us who have privilege and benefit from systemic inequality. 

I don’t yet have all the answers to these questions. I'm still struggling myself to wrap my head and heart around what needs to come next and how, exactly, we achieve it. All I do know is that being social creatures, we need a community, a tribe, and that personal identity is strongly tied to group membership. It is very hard to leave one group without knowing another is waiting and willing to accept you as one of their own. Even cooperation between groups requires the belief in a non-zero-sum game.

Showing Trump supporters that there is still room for them in America and that there are ways we can agree and cooperate – that we want the best for them, too – while condemning so much of what Trumpism has entailed, so much of what they have enabled, encouraged, and/or participated in, is going to difficult. But all I have read and seen about de-radicalization, counter-terrorism, cult-deprogramming, and the like shows we will get nowhere without compassion, patience, and a willingness to understand the grievances and motives of those across the aisle.

This may not be a job everyone is willing to take on, and I think that is understandable – there will be plenty to focus on as we move forward. But someone has to do it. If you feel like that someone is you, please contact me: Katie@TheOracleInstitute.org. Maybe together we can find the solution to the problems that face us.