(no subject)

According to the Bush administration, a doctor can now refuse to give a woman an abortion... and it's perfectly legal.

Everyone, please take the time to at least visit the NARAL Pro-Choice site (naama_darling linked to it in their post) and fill out the protesting form. I really hope this doesn't go through.

Words can't even describe my disgust. This is what I wrote:

As a teenager, sex is an important issue to me. I'm not a prude - at some point I want to have it, but I know I have to be careful. A family friend once said to me, "When you think sex, think birth control. Sex. Birth control. Sex. Birth control."

But what happens when birth control doesn't work? The Pill is 99.9% effective - what about that one in one thousand chance that something goes wrong? The condom and the Pill together seem infallible, but sometimes mistakes happen. Sometimes, an unwanted pregnancy can occur.

If it does, I want to know that I have options - and those options need to include abortion. The right to terminate a pregnancy is mine, and it horrifies me to think that my ability to do so could be restricted by the beliefs of someone else. Someone like a doctor or a nurse who will never, ever be affected by what happens to the parasite in my fetus.

Abortion isn't the only answer, but it has to be a choice. I'm terrified of the possibility that one day I could accidentally become pregnant and then not be legally allowed to end the pregnancy. What will I do then? If a doctor refuses to perform the procedure on me and there is no other clinic in my area, how will I find another?

The right to choose what I do with my body is mine and mine alone. It should not depend on the whims of a doctor, nurse, or other staff member at the clinic I turn to for support. As a teenager seriously concerned about her future, I am begging you to oppose this rule. It is demeaning, harmful, and seriously violates my right to choose. Please don't let this rule go any further.

I'm so furious right now it's not even funny.