« Thank you! |
Main
| MA Governor shifting to anti-choice position »
May 24, 2005
South Carolina criminalizing abortion?
Make sure to check out this great piece at CounterPunch, Criminalizing
Abortion in South Carolina: Why
Did Gabriela Flores Go to Jail?
The article not only looks at the state's scary
anti-choice record--87% of counties have no abortion provider; married women
are subject to a husband consent law; and the state imposes biased counseling
and mandatory delays--but also reveals the class and race bias that accompanies
recent anti-choice actions:
Gabriela Flores sat in a South Carolina jail for four months -- just for having an
abortion.
Last fall, the 22-year-old immigrant farm worker and
mother of three from Pelion, South Carolina, became pregnant and took misoprostol, a
medicine that is used in RU-486, to terminate her pregnancy. Flores'
sister sent her the Cytotec tablets from Mexico.
Flores is charged with violating a
state ban on "illegal" abortions -- a law that is supposed to protect
women from back-alley abortionists, not to send them to jail for having one. If
convicted, Flores could face prison time and a costly
fine.
Flores' case reflects a new level
of madness among the anti-abortion bigots. According to a May 1 article in The
State newspaper, state officials initially tried to charge Flores with murder -- with the hope of seeking the death penalty, a source later said.
Thankfully the charges were later reduced, but this kind
of nonsense is indicative of how anti-woman anti-choicers can be. Perhaps if so many restrictions weren't in place, women
like Flores wouldn't be forced to seek out illegal
abortions.
Author Michele Bollinger conveys one sentiment however, that
I'm not sure I support:
When Democratic Party politicians talk about seeking
"common ground" with anti-choice bigots and -- as Hillary Clinton did
in January -- condemn abortion as a "tragic choice," they aid in the
criminalization of women like Gabriela Flores.
Any thoughts?
Posted by Jessica at May 24, 2005 3:55 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.blogforchoice.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2600
