Republican Men Weigh in Again on Female Rights

Well the Missouri legislature has done it again, or should I say Republican males have done it again.  Last week Missouri enacted a 72-hour waiting period to its abortion law. Now after receiving consultation on abortion the woman will have to wait an additional 72 hours, rather than the former 24 hour waiting period.

Missouri law already states that no abortion can be performed “21 weeks and 6 days after a woman’s last menstrual period.” Conception is counted from a woman’s last menstrual period since there seems to be no scientific way to determine actual time of conception.

First we had Republican Todd Akin who told us all about how a woman’s body is already immune from getting pregnant through the act of rape and now we have another Republican, Missouri State Senator, David Sater, who sponsored the extended waiting period bill tell us, “I’m sure the unborn child probably would like to see an extra 48 hours for the mother to decide on whether or not to have the abortion done.”

It might serve Messieurs Akin and Sater to understand a little more about biology before making such presumptive statements. There is no evidence to suggest that an unborn child at any stage of development possesses the ability of sapience and therefore it is doubtful that “the unborn child probably would like to see an extra 48 hours for the mother to decide” but it makes for nice, if inaccurate press.

Even in reading the NIH timeline of fetal development, there is no mention of the development of rational thought in a fetus. So let’s stop with these ridiculous statements, Mr. Republican Men.

Instead we should have compassion for the females who have just endured brutal rape, whether or not it resulted in a pregnancy, the act alone is traumatic enough. Now you want this woman to sit and ponder additional days?

Knowing if a female is pregnant has always been a waiting game; there is no special sign that appears the second a woman conceives. At best it might be seven to ten days after conception that pregnancy could be determined. So a woman who has been raped has already been “waiting” and giving thought to the situation long before the pregnancy was determined. Waiting another couple of days may not seem like a big deal for a man but believe for a woman who has just endured a rape those days are a lifetime.