Foros de Aporrea.org

[Isa Goretti]

Michigan democrat Lisa Brown was barred from further participation in a debate on abortion after saying the word "vagina". Republicans found the use of the word distasteful and inappropriate.

So you can't say vagina in a debate on abortion? Seriously?

Vagina isn't a dirty word guys. Every woman has one. The word can be used in dirty ways sure, but so can every word. An abortion discussion is not an unreasonable context for saying it.
The censorship of the use of the word "vagina" is simply inacceptible in a free-speech society... How can an anatomical word be a dirty word?? In the name of prudery???

Let's call a cat a pussy then, shall we??LOL
To me the whole thing looks like Republican pandering to a puritanical fanbase, the people who believe that America can become a stronger country through sexual conservatism.

Anyway, in protest, Brown and 11 other female lawmakers protested by doing a reading of the infamous Vagina Monologues on the steps of the capitol. It turned into an impromptu rally with 2,500 people attending and chanting "Vagina! Vagina! Vagina!" together.

Some might find this event and this thread childish, but I think it's a concern that in the government of a supposedly liberal country, you can't use the correct term for female anatomy in a discussion about women's health

Here's the quote: "Mr Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but no means no."

Tennessee Republican Mike Callton said "What she said was offensive. It was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company."

Very concerning. Callton explicitly says he would say vagina in front of men, but not in front of women. What is that about? Women are so fragile and sensitive that hearing a man name their genitalia will somehow damage them? And the word vagina is offensive? You were born from one. You create your own children using one. In my view, this whole thing is just symptomatic of a narrative going back to the dawn of recorded history to stigmatise female sexuality so that men can use it to dominate them and Callton's quote backs that right up.

the speaker was most likely talking to adults, and they shouldn't be such babies.

I want to address the content of the bill itself, which has more condescending sexism and outright sadistic misogyny in it than the comment thread on a blog post about women in video games. A quick summary of the ugliness within:

1) Michigan legislators have their eye on punishing women who try to get their abortions as quickly as possible after discovering their pregnancy, well before there’s any fetus to speak of. The bill forces women who want to take RU-486, which must be used in the first 63 days of pregnancy, to do so in the presence of a doctor. For the women who live in the 82 percent of Michigan counties without an abortion provider, this adds expense and time that usually result in women waiting until further along in their pregnancy to abort.

2) After all is said and done, even the existing abortion providers might not be there, since this bill is stuffed full of unnecessary regulations intended to shut down clinics, such as requiring clinics that only do medication abortion to have a full surgical suite that they will never actually use. If that expense doesn’t do them in, the requirement that they carry excessive levels of malpractice insurance will. These regulations have nothing to do with actual concerns about women’s safety. Abortion is one of the safest medical procedures around, especially in comparison with childbirth, which is 10 times more dangerous.

3) Doctors will now be required to screen for domestic violence and coercion before performing the abortion. In theory, this is the least offensive part of the bill, because counseling women to make sure that abortion is their own choice is already a standard part of abortion care. The problem is that the bill’s definition of “coercion� is troublingly vague and of course, utterly one-sided. The people who stand outside of abortion clinics to scare and harass women seeking abortion are coercive and abusive, but the bill doesn’t address this at all.

4) In addition, the House is expected to pass a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks, except to save a woman’s life, on the false premise that fetuses at that stage of gestation can feel pain. Bans on these kinds of abortions have a particularly sadistic bent, since women who seek abortions at that stage usually have the saddest stories of all. These abortions are most commonly in response to fetal defects that are harder to detect earlier in a pregnancy. Women and especially young girls who are suffering from sexual trauma and extreme poverty are overrepresented in this category. Overall, only 1.5 percent of abortions happen this late in pregnancy.

As extreme as this bill is, anti-choice legislators in Michigan have even grander goals, hoping to eliminate abortion and seriously cripple contraception access. State Rep. Mike Shirkey made this clear, announcing on the radio, “Until we completely eliminate abortions in Michigan and completely defund Planned Parenthood, we have work to do.�

Why is contraception an issue? We should make it readily available. Do we REALLY want more poverse babies running around?

Also, why is abortion an issue? It only makes sense to me that if you make abortion illegal, everyone will get crappy coathanger backyard abortions and stds and crime will rise. I'm not really personally for abortion, just like I'm not a huge fan of alcohol, but as soon as that became illegal it started a whole shizzton of crime.

Also, why are ANY dirty words taboo anymore? I mean, we've already brainwashed our children into oversexualization and fisted our culture and pulled some brains out of it's ass. Basically, I still hate everything.


Michigan legislators are currently considering one of the most extreme anti-abortion omnibus bills in USA