[Content Note: Semi-Graphic References to Rape, Sexual Assault, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Oppressive Legislative Actions]
The Michigan Legislature approved a petition that requires women to purchase abortion services as an additional rider to their current medical insurance coverage, whether individually purchased or employer-based. Furthermore, the coverage would have to be purchased in advance of an abortion to be effective, requiring women to be clairvoyant about potential sexual assaults, birth control misfires, and any one of a hundred reasons an unplanned pregnancy might happen.
The testimony of actual women about their rape, their miscarriage, and their procedures did not sway the Republican majority from their course.
Nor did the Legislature elect to let the petition go to the voters, but acted upon it, and bypassed the Governor's ability to veto it in the process. Mr. Snyder, to his credit, vetoed a similar measure last year.
The law now is slated to take place 90 days after the official end of the legislative session.
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| What Grapes by Natalie Dee and Sister Fruit to Erika's and Will's Whatnapple |
Michigan's Republican Party hates women. They present the women of the state with a sadistic choice - either spend money you cannot afford to have insurance against your rape resulting in a pregnancy, your birth control failing, or your fetus not being viable, or gamble with your life and finances that your pregnancy will be healthy and wanted, and on your schedule. Rape victims and incest victims cannot purchase coverage after they are attacked. A pregnancy that has complications has to have bought the insurance before the pregnancy began.
And gods help you if you're a minor. Your parents have to have purchased this insurance coverage beforehand, which means awkward conversations about the possibility that you're sexually active. That is, assuming you had the option to wait until your parents were able to talk about it. When you have eight year-old boys raping their classmates in school, it's always possible that such coverage would be needed well before anyone thought of it. If your parents are staunchly conservative, then, dear child, you're screwed, since you can't afford the insurance for yourself and your parents aren't buying it.
But even then, insurance companies send notices when their services are used. So if you aren't willing to camp the mailbox and intercept insurance company mail in service of the secret, then there will be conversations. Congratulations, now you have to tell your parents that your boyfriend raped you. Or that apparently innocent party actually ended up in you being dragged, barely coherently, from party to party and repeatedly raped. Or that you fooled around just the one time and got pregnant from it because nobody bothered to tell you about birth control and you believed him when he said he didn't need a condom. And then you tell hem what happened with the pregnancy. Best-case scenario, everyone is supportive and understanding, and the secrecy was for nothing.
Worst-case, well, homelessness or being forced to marry your rapist are just the tip of the iceberg.
There's only one thing to say about this, apart from applauding the immediate efforts to get this law repealed.
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| F-Bomb ASCII art by Silver Adept |
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