Want an Abortion? You MUST Learn About Adoption

[GeoBQn]

The only Texas state senate Democrat who voted in favor of the state's sweeping anti-abortion legislation has filed a bill that would require women seeking abortion to complete a 3-hour "adoption education course" and present a certificate of completion to the abortion provider. Don't worry--the class is free and you can take it in person or online!

mysanantonio.com/news/politics/texas_legislature/article/Lucio-files-bill-to-require-pre-abortion-adoption-4696182.php

State Sen. Lucio is expected to push the bill for the legislature's third (count 'em, third) special session.

[ShesCrafty]

Assholes like this make me so angry that I can barely type so I will have to let Madeline Kahn speak for me

[tuckerphez]

I love (read: hate) how anti-choice people always fucking assume that if women (or to them, womb-vessels) just hear about adoption, they won't abort teh precious babiez.

NEWSFLASH: Everyone ever, especially women who want/need abortions, has heard of adoption. Oftentimes children put up for adoption can spend years in foster care, especially if they're minorities, disabled, older, etc.,. Some women wouldn't want that, so they abort.

Also there's the women who have abortions for medical reasons, but those women don't exist to scumbags like State Sen. Lucio.

[merrily]

I dunno, would it tell women of the not-white perfect babies still in the system? Or the children/teens still in there? Wouldn't real facts about adoption dissuade women seeking abortions?

... oh who am I kidding, of course these courses would be pro fetus!

[Drina Adams]

Do some people think women are stupid? Do they really think the option of adoption never crossed their minds. For goodness sake, if you don't want to be pregnant and go through birth and labour, no amount of fluffy adoption crapola will change your mind. Being pregnant is a crappy experience for me. There's no way I'd be doing it for someone else to get a baby.

[August]

Will they have childcare available while they do this course? Half of women having abortions are mothers.

Drina, not to mention that adoption is not fluffy rainbow sparkles, at all.

[FearLyss]

Adoption, what's that? Said NOBODY EVER.

:angry-banghead:

[doggie]

I can see this as a fear education thing like the crisis centers do. less truth and more scare tactics.

[lizziesmom]

Good luck finding anyone in Texas who will even perform an abortion. I imagine the resources available for adoption outnumber those for other alternatives 50 to 1.

[Mice]

is it just me or does anyone else think that they do this kind of thing in order to make the names and contact information of women who want abortions to be easier to obtain and make public. Medical providers in the US are covered by HIPAA privacy laws, but a third party adoption course mill doesn't look like it would necessarily be covered (the definition of "business associate" seems a little strained in this situation).

[Mudball]

Ugh. That Madeline Kahn picture was perfect.

On a related note: this last Sunday our paper had an article about a non profit in our area that gives women seeking abortions $3,000 for basically producing a living baby. They've "saved" 40+ babies so far. Never mind that no one can raise a child on 3K and this is clearly further proof these so-called pro-lifers only care about saving fetuses, the babies and children can fend for themselves.

Idiots, the lot of them.

saveunbornlife.org

[Patsy]

is it just me or does anyone else think that they do this kind of thing in order to make the names and contact information of women who want abortions to be easier to obtain and make public. Medical providers in the US are covered by HIPAA privacy laws, but a third party adoption course mill doesn't look like it would necessarily be covered (the definition of "business associate" seems a little strained in this situation).

Good point.

[crazyforkate]

Oh my god. It is one thing to present all the options to a woman who asks for advice about them. It is quite another to shove it down their throats. WHHHHYYY do men with no uteri get to be in charge of these things again?

[Coconut Flan]

This is definitely walk a mile in my shoes before you try to make decisions for me territory.

[Feberin]

Do they really think the women are that stupid and sheltered? I'm pretty sure most kindergarteners know about adoption.

[lemonhead]

Sigh. I watched the livestream of Sen. Lucio's impassioned pro-fetus speech on the Senate floor when the omnibus anti-choice bill in Texas was being debated in the second special session. He may be a Democrat in name but he is as whackadoo as the Talibaptists when it comes to female bodily autonomy.

I was at the protests against the omnibus bill. I waited in line for 3 hours at the Capitol to fill out a piece of paper to go on record as opposing the bill. I am officially sick unto death of the fetus fetish that has possessed my state, and I am grieved at the women and children this new anti-choice legislation will harm. Lucio's new proposal is just more of the same insanity.

I think all we can do at this point is wait for Planned Parenthood to file an injunction, then see what the 5th Circuit of Appeals does with it (I think they will refuse to overturn the law), and hope the SCOTUS does not likewise succumb to the insanity.

I am seriously considering to another state. I think Oregon might be a better fit for me and my family.

[patsymae]

What all of the above people said. Adoption and abortion shouldn't even be mentioned together-- one decision is whether to terminate a pregnancy or complete it. Placing a child for adoption is a separate issue altogether.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if this course and the legislation are sponsored by the adoption industry--so hard to meet the demand for newborns--and of course the Christian right, which sees natural mothers as "vessels" chosen by God to deliver "their" babies to good Christian couples. I'm sure the "course" (which I'd be happy to take online if there is a way for me to do it from out of state, just to see) will be all puppies and rainbows, profiles of happy adopted families frolicking in the outdoors, etc., with a couple of deliriously happy natural mothers thrown in.

Will "The Primal Wound" be part of the curriculum? Information on the disproportion number of adoptees in mental health and correctional facilities? Stories from birthmothers about their lifelong trauma and mental health issues after surrender? Information that open-adoption agreements are not legally enforceable and a sizable number of adoptive parents reneg after finalization? Will it include information on social services (little and few as they are) available to low-income people who chose to parent? Not likely.

[Ariel]

I can see this as a fear education thing like the crisis centers do. less truth and more scare tactics.

Definitely fear, also guilt.

'How could you give up a perfectly good baby when there are millions of childless couples who would do anything to have what you're throwing out in the garbage."

Bleh.

[SpeakNow]

This makes perfect sense! When my aunt had to terminate her very wanted 4th pregnancy (she already had 3 children) because it became life-threatening, she should have realized placing the baby for adoption would've resolved the entire issue!

Seriously...do these people have any sort of thinking skills?

[NoneandDoneinCali]

Speaking of minority babies languishing in foster care ...

I'm white. I'm even blonde, tall, and reasonably intelligent (no genius or beauty queen, mind you). When I went in to my regular doctor (whom I trusted, at the time) to take a pregnancy test, out of fucking NOWHERE this dude starts lecturing me on how "precious" my offspring would be. How much my blonde haired, blue eyed baby would mean to me ... or a lucky couple.He actually said my baby would be "beautiful" and someone would be lucky to have him/her. My friend (whom I'd recommended see this doctor, he was one of our on-campus physicians) also fell pregnant, and didn't receive this lecture at all. She's a gorgeous Hispanic woman, actually much younger than I am (I was 29 at the time, she was 25) a year later (I'd stopped seeing him without telling anyone why). She didn't get the same "speech," although we were both single and in no position to raise a child.

Summary: I still got the abortion, and lost all trust in this doctor. She still got the abortion, albeit with less anger and guilt. I heard a rumor that this guy gives a spiel to white women who become pregnant. He's super Christian and Indian - wtf??? I hate to sound paranoid, but she had a completely different experience. I got the hard sell ... she got a "you know what's best." And if anything, I was more determined not to have a baby.

[patsymae]

Speaking of minority babies languishing in foster care ...

I'm white. I'm even blonde, tall, and reasonably intelligent (no genius or beauty queen, mind you). When I went in to my regular doctor (whom I trusted, at the time) to take a pregnancy test, out of fucking NOWHERE this dude starts lecturing me on how "precious" my offspring would be. How much my blonde haired, blue eyed baby would mean to me ... or a lucky couple.He actually said my baby would be "beautiful" and someone would be lucky to have him/her. My friend (whom I'd recommended see this doctor, he was one of our on-campus physicians) also fell pregnant, and didn't receive this lecture at all. She's a gorgeous Hispanic woman, actually much younger than I am (I was 29 at the time, she was 25) a year later (I'd stopped seeing him without telling anyone why). She didn't get the same "speech," although we were both single and in no position to raise a child.

Summary: I still got the abortion, and lost all trust in this doctor. She still got the abortion, albeit with less anger and guilt. I heard a rumor that this guy gives a spiel to white women who become pregnant. He's super Christian and Indian - wtf??? I hate to sound paranoid, but she had a completely different experience. I got the hard sell ... she got a "you know what's best." And if anything, I was more determined not to have a baby.

This doctor could well be seeking out potential placements for potential adoptive parents. Lots of doctors do it, and some even allow cards and flyers from hopeful couples to be placed in their waiting room.

Also curious how he would be so sure that you would produce a blonde, blue-eyed offspring.

[hapamama]

Do some people think women are stupid? Do they really think the option of adoption never crossed their minds. For goodness sake, if you don't want to be pregnant and go through birth and labour, no amount of fluffy adoption crapola will change your mind. Being pregnant is a crappy experience for me. There's no way I'd be doing it for someone else to get a baby.

I've had 5 babies of my own. With the last 4, I had morning sickness for 6-8 months. With the last two, I had PIH. I don't ever want to be pregnant again for a baby I would keep, let alone for a baby I'd hand off to a complete stranger... what kept me going through those last two was knowing I'd have a baby to love on in the end. It made the health risks worth it.

[Coconut Flan]

Yep, there is no way I'd suffer through pregnancy including months of HG and not keep the baby.

[Widget]

If they are honest about adoption, it may actually increase the number of abortions.

This doctor could well be seeking out potential placements for potential adoptive parents. Lots of doctors do it, and some even allow cards and flyers from hopeful couples to be placed in their waiting room.

Also curious how he would be so sure that you would produce a blonde, blue-eyed offspring.

I agree. That's sadly not uncommon, particularly of doctors who work near colleges and other places vulnerable young women are likely to be.

I got adoption whackadoodles from the day I showed. When I was just walking to work people would hand me cards and pamphlets.

I think they had a fantasy sequence in their heads where the women goes "I was just headed to partial birth abortion my baby but golly gee since you told me about how great adoption is, I'll just sign it over to you right now!" :roll:

[NoneandDoneinCali]

No one can know for sure, of course, but because I'd been seeing this doctor for 2+ years for everything from psych meds to allergies, I'd shown him a picture of my on/off boyfriend, who is 6'6" and blonde/blue eyed. I'm sure he drew the proper conclusions. It still freaks me out to THIS DAY, though. Ugh. My friend is, if anything, prettier than I am (just being realistic, I'm overweight), and he didn't "waste his time" telling her about appreciative adoptive families.

This doctor could well be seeking out potential placements for potential adoptive parents. Lots of doctors do it, and some even allow cards and flyers from hopeful couples to be placed in their waiting room.

Also curious how he would be so sure that you would produce a blonde, blue-eyed offspring.