#hr 490

[rapeculturerealities]

On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on a bill that has raised concern and criticism from pro-choice activists. Lawmakers are debating HR 490, which basically determines when it is valid to get an abortion. And yet, the discussion about women having reproductive freedom was dominated by men, a fact that was made clear by Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the only woman invited to speak on the abortion subcommittee.

"As the only woman on the dais, it was incredibly disturbing to see Republican men attempt to strip away my constitutional rights and privacy of women," Jayapal tells Bustle.

Iowa Rep. Steve King introduced the H.R. 490 bill, known as The Heartbeat Protection Act, in January to demand that the United States of America "prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable." The remarkably limited nature of HR 490 has been criticized by observers as a blanket ban on virtually all abortions.

King's proposal, if it becomes law, would ban abortion procedures as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected and that can happen as early as six weeks. The six-week marker in the bill would hurt women, as many aren't even aware that they are pregnant at such an early point. In fact, there are multiple cases wherein a woman is entirely unaware that she is expecting.

“ The six-week abortion ban bill is simply unconstitutional," Jayapal says. "It restricts the constitutionally protected right for women to make decisions about our own bodies, and similar state bills have already been struck down in the courts."

[myresistance]

November 1, 2017

HR 490, aka the "Heartbeat Protection Act", is unconstitutional and immoral. Please do not allow this insulting and dehumanizing legislation to pass. Women have the right to their bodies, their health, and their safety. A heartbeat does not a life make, despite what Hollywood may have told us. Furthermore, valuing a fetus more than the woman who carries it is archaic, misogynistic, and unjust.

America has very little dignity left; let's not undermine it.

Requiring a woman to have a transvaginal ultrasound without medical necessity is so invasive it qualifies as a violation.

[fangirlingtodeath513]

The Heartbeat Protection Act of 2017

Okay I hate posting political things but this is getting ridiculous. There’s a bill up for discussion tomorrow (Nov 1, 02017) HR 490 that would make abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat illegal. With current technology, fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks. Most women don’t even know they’re pregnant at six weeks, much less get an abortion before then. 

This bill would make it a federal crime for a doctor to knowingly perform an abortion:

without determining whether the fetus has a detectable heartbeat

without telling the mother the results of the above point (whether or not the fetus has a heartbeat)

after determining that the fetus has a heartbeat. 

Now, while this bill ensures that any woman who gets an abortion after knowing that their fetus has a heartbeat won’t be punished, the same can’t be said for the doctors. This bill could result in a doctor who performed an abortion receiving either (a) a fine or (b) up to five years in prison. In prison. For doing something that a woman wants to do for herself medically and situationally and has every single right to do.  

Whether or not you yourself want an abortion, that doesn’t give you the right to take away someone else’s rights, especially when the decision is made between her and a doctor. No one’s going to force anyone to get an abortion that doesn’t want one. If you don’t want an abortion, that’s absolutely fine, more power to you. That doesn’t give you the right to take away my choice in having an abortion just because your religion/god is against it.

So what can you do? 

Here are the numbers for senators and representatives. All you have to do is enter your address into the search bar and the website will give you both of your senators and your representative, along with all of their contact information. You’re better off calling their Washington D.C. office, since that’s where the majority of their staff are.

I know calling people sucks, and I know how awkward it is. I hate it. So here’s a transcript for you. I’ve called a fwe times regarding different bills. Someone from their office will answer and I usually say something along these lines:

Hi, my name is __________ and I’m calling as a constituent of Representative ___________. I urge him to vote NO on bill HR 490. This bill would be detrimental to women’s reproductive health and would be a huge step backward for this country. As a woman and a constituent, I sincerely hope you’ll protect my right to my own body.

After that, the person who answered the phone for your representative’s office will ask for your full name and your address to ensure that you’re actually a constituent of that representative and will then pass that message on to your representative. And then you can hang up and go about your day. I usually get an email a day or so later saying that my representative received my message and will take my opinion into consideration when casting his vote. It’s a pretty generic message that’s probably sent out automatically, but I’m not sure if every representative does this.

I know this sucks, and I know how frustrating and enegy-consuming it is having to be politically engaged all the time. But we can’t let things like these slide by. We CANNOT let them systematically strip away our rights. Please please please call your senators and representatives sometime in the next few days and urge them to vote no on this bill.