So, I was reading the interwebs, and caught a story that I had also heard mentioned on the radio. The story involves a 15 year old girl, Rennie Gibbs, who has the unfortunate circumstance of living in Mississippi. She had the further unfortunate circumstance of becoming pregnant in her early teens. She had the further misfortune of having a miscarriage.
Ready for the really unfortunate part? Because of her miscarriage, she has been charged with murder, and faces a mandatory life sentence in prison if convicted.
No, I did not keyboard stutter, life - in - prison.
The state of Mississippi, and its Bronze Age legislature, have passed laws that make mothers criminally responsible for the progress of the fetus. One mistake, and you could face life in prison.
Other states have done this too. In Alabama, at least 40 women have had cases brought against them for what happened to their fetuses. In Indiana, Bei Bei Shuai is serving time in prison for fetus related crimes. Now these are not the only states, mind you. Georgia is currently crafting a law that puts the onus on the mother to PROVE that ANY miscarriage was not her fault. Essentially, mothers who go through that awful event will be guilty until proven innocent if the state decides to pursue the case.
What the fuck, conservatives? Will you stoop to NO DEPTHS in your quest to subjugate women? Many say that these laws are all tied to the abortion issue - forcing a recognition of fetal personhood upon the state, and eventually the Supreme Court which will then overturn Roe V Wade.
But think about that in terms of the women who are now serving prison time for miscarriages, or facing prison time: abortion is legal in all 50 states. It is legal to intentionally terminate your pregnancy. How can it be illegal to accidentally terminate your pregnancy? It doesn't make any fucking sense. It is not logical.
In some of these states (38 have at least introduced fetal homicide laws for consideration in their legislatures) the intent of the laws was to protect pregnant women from domestic abuse. If their spouse/partner beat them so bad that it caused a miscarriage, the batterer would face charges for killing the fetus as well as the battery. These laws are now being stretched by conservatives to go after mothers with drug problems, or who don't leave dangerous or abusive situations. No no, don't HELP the mother, fuck her up good after the tragedy of a miscarriage.
This is the kind of shit that happens when your country goes so, so far right. We here in American have let the spectrum shift so far to the conservative side that we are practically traveling back in time. In fact we are traveling back as far as the early Bronze Age.
This level of control of women, and in particular their reproductive systems, is not just about abortion. It is not about morality - it is about control. There is precedence for it in the Bible, and in other ancient texts, but the religious right quotes to Bible often, so let's stick to that. This is about the subjugation of women, but also controlling women as property.
That's right - property.
The Bible is full of subjugation quotes: "wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." (Collosians 3:18) There are also passages about how horrible it is to have a nagging wife (you know, one who actually has an opinion), and about stoning to death women who commit adultery.
But there are also many passages about how women and their sexuality are bartered. In the story if Dinah, she is raped by a guest so the family demands cash and marriage. In Deuteronomy, it explains that rape is okey-dokey as long as marriage follows. Why is it okay to rape a family member as long as you marry afterwards?
Because of property!
Not only are women property, but the estate is passed to the sons in the patriarchal Bronze Age world of the Mediterranean. If there are bastard sons popping up here and there, then there are claims on the clan's property from outside the clan! Fuck no! If you have perchance knocked up my daughter (with a potential male heir), then you better fucking marry her, or, as the bible says, we'll stone you both to death (Deuteronomy 22:24).
Baal dammit! Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Indiana conservatives are not just following the moral code of the Bible, they are subjecting the citizens of their states to BRONZE AGE VALUES, and making them law! I've got news for you fuckers, it is not 1000 BCE! Property is not passed down through sons anymore as a rule. And a woman's womb is NOT, like it was in Bronze Age Palestine, the legal will for the clan!
The idea of subjugating women in order to control their reproduction is ancient. Protecting the clan property meant making the women of the clan property. Women as chattel is an idea codified in the Bible, and the Bible is where some of these knuckle-dragging conservatives get their ideas. They couch these ideas in the term "morality."
And it is easy to argue the morality of protecting little tiny babies - even to protect them from unfit parents. And taking a position against abortion is a reasonable position. I disagree, and distinguish between a dependent entity and an independent life, but it is a position that can be argued with reason. But it is not logical, nor reasonable to jail somebody for an accidental occurrence that would be perfectly legal if done on purpose. It is also not reasonable to have laws that apply ONLY to one half of the population. Unless, the intent of the laws are to take rights away from that half.
Besides, how are you going to apply these laws? Do the police departments, or the state patrol in each of these states investigate every miscarriage? Do doctors have to now report miscarriages to the state, like they were an emergency room gunshot wound? If a woman is seen having a glass of wine at a restaurant, potentially within the window of her pregnancy (like at the beginning, before she knew she was pregnant), is she now eligible for a mandatory life sentence in Mississippi if she miscarries?
This is fucking crazy. This is adjudicating from the Bronze Age. This is not protecting children, this is state control of a women's reproductive systems, of part of their bodies. This is state control of women. The clan from the ancient Levant has risen again to keep women as chattel. What else can I say, except if you are a woman...
...get the fuck out of Mississippi (or Alabama, or Indiana, or Georgia...)
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