Background Noise: NPR Forum, the year in Films
Last website visited: morning rounds
Mood: ugh
Right now i want... i have to share this, though it turns my stomach. Please follow the link, get informed, and if you live in Virginia, take action.

WARNING: Treacherous Political Ground

Legislative Sentry: HB1677 - Have Miscarriage, Go to Jail?

"It sounds preposterous to talk about criminalizing women who suffer miscarriages, but one Virginia legislator is proposing just that. HB1677, “Report of Fetal Death by mother, penalty” is a bill introduced by John A. Cosgrove (R) of Chesapeake. Cosgrove’s bill requires any woman who experiences “fetal death” without a doctor’s assistance to report this to the local law-enforcement agency within twelve hours of the miscarriage. Failure to do so is punishable as a Class 1 Misdemeanor.... So, Delegate Cosgrove is basically saying that failing to violate your own privacy within 12 hours of a miscarriage is the criminal equivalent of statutory rape, arson, stalking, and other serious crime."

...

I'm not going to go into why this legislation is a disgusting, uncalled for, unconstitutional step down the slippery slope of making Abortion illegal again.

Instead, i'm going to look at the silver lining of this story: if the blogspace didn't exist, would anyone be aware of this tiny piece of legislation in the State Assembly of the state of Virginia? I doubt it. The story (as far as i know) hasn't even been picked up by the main stream press yet, but it is one of the most linked to and talked about pieces of legislation on the internet, and more importantly, has created a ground swell of action from the people of Virginia demanding that the legislation be taken back before it even goes to the floor.

Let's hope that what we're witnessing is a shift in how local politics is conducted - that the people are once again being heard over the PACs, the religious zealots, and the corrupt politicians who try to force their morals on their constituency.