Monday, March 19, 2012

When laws go into effect (the reality)

from Texas (via Andrew Sullivan)
...

Halfway through her pregnancy, Carolyn Jones found out her fetus had a serious condition that meant her expectant son’s brain, spine and legs wouldn't develop correctly and that he would "suffer greatly". Before receiving an abortion, a new Texas law required her to undergo a sonogram and have the doctor describe it to her:
"I’m so sorry that I have to do this," the doctor told us, "but if I don’t, I can lose my license." Before he could even start to describe our baby, I began to sob until I could barely breathe. Somewhere, a nurse cranked up the volume on a radio, allowing the inane pronouncements of a DJ to dull the doctor’s voice. Still, despite the noise, I heard him. His unwelcome words echoed off sterile walls while I, trapped on a bed, my feet in stirrups, twisted away from his voice. 
"Here I see a well-developed diaphragm and here I see four healthy chambers of the heart..." I closed my eyes and waited for it to end, as one waits for the car to stop rolling at the end of a terrible accident.