US: GOP wants to redefine "rape" to get around abortion laws

CJ is the best. I seriously have a crush on her. (And Allison Janney, for that matter.)

I'm currently re-watching Sports Night, but I think another run-through of at least a few seasons of West Wing wouldn't go amiss.

Hee, the curse! And that fly!
Huge Aaron Sorkin fan. And Allison Janey.

Hee, the curse! And that fly!
Huge Aaron Sorkin fan. And Allison Janey.

Thespis is awesome.

Just finished the episode with "grooming" Dana.

"Natalie's my assistant. She's the only one I told."
"Jeremy's my boyfriend. He's the only one I told."
...very brief pause...
"I told many, many people."

This is an abomination. 

I started to post this in the "I'm a Republican" thread but it really belongs here:

I think, beyond party politics, that rape plays a huge part in female vulnerability and, that our western society is predominantly a Rape Culture. I believe that stripping women of rights - and I'm not talking about the right to have an abortion, I'm talking about our right, men and women, to say "No" to sexual advances and have that decision be respected, to have society appropriately punish non-compliance with that decision - is bad for everyone because we cannot have an equal and free society when over half our population is vulnerable.

I think Rape Culture is pervasive, something you're not likely to notice until it's pointed out to you or you become a victim of it. What is Rape Culture? From Wikipedia: Rape culture is a term used within women's studies and feminism, describing a culture in which rape and other sexual violence (usually against women) are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media condone, normalize, excuse, or encourage sexualized violence. 

Here's a blog post explaining what Rape Culture looks like in the wild
http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/this-is-what-rape-culture-looks-like/

It isn't a Western Society issue.  It is a human issue. 

I mean it happens all over Africa and on a clearly much wider scale and India. 

I don't think Western Society has anything to do with it particularly.

I didn't mean exclusively Westnern. It is my understanding that things are a lot _worse_ in other parts of the world, places where rape and violence against women are much more common.  I was using Western society to be inclusive of both the US (subject of the article), the UK, and the countries around us - countries where it's easy to think that because women have the right to vote, own property, go to school, and leave the house without a male relative that there's nothing less to worry about.

I don't know how they can go about and try to redefine rape.  Rape is rape...it's the ripping out of part of your soul and no matter how hard you try to get it back, it's never fully back...changed, but not back (I know, I've been there).  It doesn't matter if it's with your husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, relative, date, drug/drink induced, statutory or complete stranger.  No means no and that should be it. 

I can understand needing evidence, especially in this day and age when there are so many "women" who feel the need to cry rape when all they do is regret the night before, but there are more ways to get it than just bruises.  Needless to say, the majority of the people raped are genuine and should be helped, not made to feel like it's their fault (they already feel like that...not to mention being made to feel guilty by some people in the system anyway).  A person's life is worth much more than the "bottom line."

It's atrocious and I'm ashamed for this country if it comes down to that.  It's already difficult enough to report (nevermind prove in some cases).  This just puts us back several million years in evolution (in my opinion).

This is so preposterous I can't even wrap my head around it. Who are others to decide if it was rape or not? No means no end of story.

My understanding is that they're now going to remove that language from the bill.

However, there's another, equally reprehensible bill coming through, the Defense of Life bill, which would allow hospitals to deny any treatment to a woman (not strictly limited to abortion) if it would endanger the fetus.

The whole thing makes my stomach turn.  I wish for one minute the people trying to push their own agenda could get in the head of the women whom their law would affect.

I once had an anesthesiologist refuse to administer anesthesia for a patient of mine, who was hemorrhaging because of a "septic abortion" - unfortunate medical name for a situation in which a woman starts to miscarry and has a life-threatening infection in her uterus - because he would be assisting in "an abortion" because the fetus still had a heartbeat.  Never mind that the pregnancy would never survive due to the advanced stage of the miscarriage, and that if we didn't intervene and soon, the woman wouldn't either. I was outraged that he, an otherwise reasonable man, would let her die due to his own religious beliefs, which neither the patient or I shared.  This was probably 10 years ago, and I can still feel the outrage and helplessness I felt that night. 

I was outraged that he, an otherwise reasonable man, would let her die due to his own religious beliefs, which neither the patient or I shared. 

I think, personally, that medical professionals who behave in that way should be legally prosecuted.  To me, that's attempted manslaughter. 

I don't think anyone should have to do something that violates their religious beliefs - but refusing to do your job, whatever the reason, is grounds for being summarily fired. Pick your career accordingly - I hear there's always a demand for garbage collectors, mechanics, and plumbers. Conscientious objectors still have to face the legal repercussions of refusing to obey the law. 

Not that this helps your patient, CAA.  Were you able to find a different anesthesiologist in time?

Not that this helps your patient, CAA.  Were you able to find a different anesthesiologist in time?

Yes, thankfully.  I made it his responsibility to find a colleague who would come in from home and help me with her care.  And I then made an appointment with the Chief of Anesthesia to develop a protocol for the situation, should it ever arise again.

I don't think anyone should have to do something that violates their religious beliefs - but refusing to do your job, whatever the reason, is grounds for being summarily fired.

I agree wholeheartedly.  The abortion thing can be very tricky in my field.  In my department of 30, there are many who do not perform (elective) abortions - myself among them - but that does not mean that when an emergency arises and a patient's life is in danger, we can back away.  I have purposely chosen a practice where my patients can get safe abortions from colleagues who are willing and able. I would really have a dilemma if I worked somewhere that it was not available from someone else I trusted.