Women’s Bodies As Battlefield by Janet Maika’i Rudolph

Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote in the introduction to her book The Women’s Bible:

The Bible teaches that woman brought sin and death into the world, that she precipitated the fall of the race, that she was arraigned before the judgement seat of Heaven, tried, convicted and sentenced. Marriage for her was to be a condition of bondage, maternity, a period of suffering and anguish, and in silence and subjection, she was to play the role of a dependent on man’s bounty for all her material wants . .

We are facing the long-term results of these biblical writings. This upcoming election is so unsettling because it is showing patriarchy in all its ugliness. We see how this is being played out, especially regarding abortion, but in all areas of the functioning of women’s bodies. The reason abortion is at the foundation of it all is that the drive to police women’s bodies is the crux which justifies all sorts of cruelties. It is the same with racism. These are issues that span the pantheon of rights; human, economic, healthcare, bodily autonomy. It takes a police state to quell all of these.

Below are 5 stories that have been in the news that you may have missed or have forgotten. They all show the absolute ignorance and distain for women and our bodies and the rush to criminalize and punish women for our “original sins.”

From ProPublica: A Lab Test That Experts Liken to a Witch Trial Is Helping Send Women to Prison for Murder by Duaa Eldeib (Oct 7, 2023)

“Inside the medical examiner’s office, two pathologists removed a baby’s lungs from his chest, clamped them together and placed them in a container of water. Then they watched.
They were examining the suspicious death of the baby whose body was found in a Maryland home; his mother said he was stillborn.
If the lungs floated, the theory behind the test holds, the baby likely was born alive. If they sank, the baby likely was stillborn.
“A very simple premise,” the assistant medical examiner later testified.
The lungs floated — and the mother was charged with murder.
In investigations across the country, the lung float test has emerged as a barometer of sorts to help determine if a mother suffered the devastating loss of a stillbirth or if she murdered her baby who was born alive. The test has been used in at least 11 cases where women were charged criminally since 2013 and has helped put nine of them behind bars, a ProPublica review of court records and news reports found. Some of those women remain in prison. Some had their charges dropped and were released.”

Bottom line. The reason that some of the charges were dropped was because this test has proven to be inaccurate. It has been used anyway.

From the Texas Tribune:  Texas’ abortion laws are straining the OB-GYN workforce, new study shows By Eleanor Klibanoff  (10/8/24)

“Anti-abortion groups and Republican lawmakers say it is clear when doctors can intervene to perform an abortion. Doctors disagree, this survey shows. Almost one-third of OB-GYNs in Texas do not have a clear understanding of the law and how it relates to their medical practice, and 60% are fearful of legal repercussions.
Dr. Anitra Beasley, a Houston OB-GYN, said she and other doctors bring the fear of criminalization into the room with the patient, even when they’re treating a miscarriage or other pregnancy complications.
‘It turns it into something that’s about me and my risk instead of being about the patient and their situation,’ she said.”

The laws in Texas are so draconian that doctors are afraid to practice.  The “punishments” for running afoul of such laws aren’t minor, they involve long prison terms. No wonder women are asked to bleed out in the parking lot and reach death’s door before the can be treated. Some have died. What doctor in their right mind would put with that. And in fact, new doctors are choosing not to practice in Texas which is creating “healthcare deserts.”

From KFF HealthNews: Louisiana Reclassifies Drugs Used in Abortions as Controlled Dangerous Substances By Rosemary Westwood, WWNO (7/24/24)

“Before the Louisiana bill passed, more than 250 OB-GYNs and emergency, internal medicine, and other physicians from across the state signed a letter to the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Thomas Pressly, a Republican, arguing the move could threaten women’s health by delaying lifesaving care.
‘It’s just really jaw-dropping,’ said Nicole Freehill, a New Orleans OB-GYN who signed the letter. ‘Almost a day doesn’t go by that I don’t utilize one or both of these medications.’
Mifepristone and misoprostol are routinely used to treat miscarriages, stop obstetric hemorrhaging, induce labor, or prepare the cervix for a range of procedures inside the uterus, such as inserting an IUD or taking a biopsy of the uterine lining.”

Both medications are used for other medical purposes and laws like these are making them increasingly hard to obtain. I have a friend in NY with an auto-immune disease and she is having trouble getting her medications.

From Huffpost: Domestic Abuse And Abortion Bans Create ‘A Very Dangerous Recipe’ Post-Roe. A new report analyzes survivors’ experiences with reproductive coercion, intimate partner violence and the threat of criminalization.
By Alanna Vagianos  June 3, 2024

“A new report highlights the connection between abortion access and intimate partner violence since the Supreme Court repealed federal abortion protections two years ago.
The report, conducted by the National Domestic Violence Hotline in collaboration with If/When/How, surveyed over 3,400 people between October and December 2023. The organizations wanted to learn more about survivor experiences with reproductive coercion, intimate partner violence and the threat of criminalization in a post-Roe v. Wade world (though, not all domestic violence experiences included in the survey happened during the survey window). Reproductive coercion and reproductive abuse are umbrella terms that describe situations including when an abusive partner controls pregnancy outcomes, coerces someone into unprotected sex or tampers with birth control methods, among other tactics.
The survey found that 63% of all respondents were pressured or forced into having sex with a current or former partner when they didn’t want to, and nearly 40% said their partner threatened them if they said no to sex. Around a quarter reported that their partner pressured them into becoming pregnant, and 13% said their partner used or threatened violence while they were pregnant with the intention of ending the pregnancy. More than 30% of respondents said they do not have access to an OB-GYN or physician who focuses on reproductive health. The survey was conducted on the Hotline’s website and all responses were anonymous.
Abortion access and intimate partner violence are inherently linked because pregnancy is an extremely dangerous time for victims of intimate partner violence. Murder by an abusive partner is the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S. ― outpacing medical issues like sepsis and hemorrhage.”

FROM LGBTQ Nation: GOP senator ruthlessly mocked for saying hurricane victims don’t need tampons By Daniel Villarreal (10/8/24)

And for some comic relief, at least if it weren’t so sad, even tragic: “I think he means that menstruation stops if the President declares a natural disaster,” one commenter joked. Other commenters were equally snide (and funny) in their comments.

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