I know people don’t really like to think about unpleasant things like miscarriages, but they happen all the time. And, unless they happen fairly early in the pregnancy, they require a medical procedure.
Most of the time, a surgical management of miscarriage will be a procedure called a D&C, or dilation and curettage. In a D&C, the woman checks into the hospital and after a pre-surgical workup, she gets either local or general anesthesia. Then the doctor dilates the cervix and scrapes away and/or vacuums the uterine lining. Afterward, she usually is discharged the same day with a prescription for pain medication and a recommendation to see her doctor for a follow-up appointment a few days or a week or two later.
Some doctors will perform a D&C in the office so that the woman does not need to check into the hospital.
A D&C may be necessary for a miscarriage that poses an immediate threat to the woman’s health, such as if a woman is hemorrhaging or if she has tissue retained in the uterus after a natural miscarriage.
Earlier miscarriages may be treated with vaccum aspiration, although this is not too common. These two procedures, D&C and vaccum aspiration, also happen to be the the most common ways to perform an abortion. A gynecologist needs to know how to perform the procedures in order to properly care for women who have miscarried even if they never provide abortions to their patients. If we don’t have doctors who know how to do these procedures then women’s health will suffer badly.
So, just keep that in mind when reading this:
The House has passed legislation that would bar teaching health centers that receive federal funds under the new health care act from using the money to teach abortion techniques.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, the sponsor of the measure, says she wants to make it “crystal clear” that taxpayer money is not being used to train health care providers to perform abortions.
The North Carolina Republican’s proposal was offered as an amendment to a bill that puts funding restrictions on a teaching program in President Barack Obama’s health care act.
The amendment passed 234-182, over the objections of some Democrats who said it would prevent medical residents from learning a basic procedure in women’s health care.
It’s not like these objections are one side of the argument. The same procedures used to perform abortions are used to treat miscarriages. That’s just a simple fact that can’t really be in dispute.
As an aside, this fact is also an important reason why any criminalization of abortion would necessarily invade the privacy and further traumatize victims of miscarriage. Since the procedures are the same for both miscarriage and abortion, treatment for miscarriage would have to be heavily documented and subject to investigation.
you know, I have a few friends who while otherwise quite normal are totally misguided about abortion and women’s health. I try to explain this to them when they’re on their “defund planned parenthood” jihad, and they simply don’t understand that passing laws like this makes every woman’s vagina into a potential crime scene.
despicable.
it shouldn’t be hard to understand.
and yet it is, to them. One guy, a strong proponent of birth control and reproductive health, nonetheless keeps telling me he’ll support Planned Parenthood once they stop “butchering babies.”
It’s like a fetish: he can’t get it out of his head.
Fucked up.
Innate sexism, disguised as progressivism. Very basic. Birth control concerns both the man & the woman, so of course birth control is cool. However, giving birth concerns the woman, so it’s a different story.
Amazing how many ‘progressive’ men are sexist, really. Sticking to their forefathers’ paradigm. ‘Free love’ indeed. For them.
This falls into the same realm as all the hysteria about birth control pills, which are used for many things other than birth control. The basic arguement is, if it can be used to do something bad, then all the good it can do is irrelevant. Except of course when it comes to guns.
Here’s the Roll Call.
Whatever control a woman has over her own life has got to be taken from her. That’s all.
…with this modern Republican Party. Response to the fact that D&C’s are sometimes needed to prevent septicemia in the wake of spontaneous miscarriages?
“No they aren’t. Why do you want to help people who love killing little babies, who want to fool girls into killing their little babies?”
Thank God these horrible misogynists don’t have control of the Senate and White House. “Handmaiden’s Tale”, immediately. Please tell me that the House can’t actually force this into becoming policy.
this is who they are. they hate women, and don’t try and put logic in the way of their hating women.
Again: it’s about power. Always about power. Power is easy to exert over women, so power is exerted over women. Power is easy to exert over the poor, so power is exerted over the poor. Likewise undocumented immigrants, non-union employees etc etc etc etc.
The ideology concerns maintaining & strengthening current power imbalances. Real simple.
Spiritual belief is a tool, used for & against.
Sexism is another tool, used for & against. Not the main issue. Power is the issue.
& of course, power = profit.
I suffered two miscarriages before having my first son, and they are both physically and emotionally traumatic. For a bunch of anti-abortion crusaders to try and snake around Roe v Wade is despicable. The last thing a woman needs when faced with personal tragedy is some court system standing over her with legal persecution.
Call it what it is:
the Maiden Aunty Virginia Foxx “Young Lady Don’t You Dare Have a Miscarriage or You’ll Die” Act
Apparently no one told Aunt Ginny what goes on “down there”
It is impossible for me to adequately convey the intense loathing I have for Rep Foxx and this band of knuckledraggers.