Medical professionals don’t believe a woman requires a procedure “likened to rape” in order to receive a clean bill of health before an abortion. However, Texas Governor Rick Perry thinks otherwise, and now gynecologists could lose their licenses if they do not comply.
Texas women realize what this means: The governor’s knowledge of women’s health trumps even that of a licensed medical professional. To prove a point, they are spamming Perry’s unofficial Facebook page with their most pressing gynecological questions.
“Governor Perry, my uterus had to be cauterized a few years ago, meaning I no longer have monthly menstrual cycles. I need advice on how I will know if I’ve reached menopause, and whether to worry. Since you believe politicians make better choices about women’s health than physicians do, I am asking for your advice.”
The Texas Sonogram Law, which took effect three weeks ago, forces women seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive sonogram in which a phallic wand is inserted fully into the vagina. The procedure, which some medical professionals say is unnecessary, purports to remind the woman that she is pregnant. The sonogram is so offensive to some newspapers that they’ve refused to run a Doonesbury cartoon poking fun at it.
While it isn’t appropriate to be discussed in newspapers, Texas women are making the sonogram a topic of conversation on Perry’s unofficial Facebook page. (Perry’s official page, like those of Santorum and Romney, no longer allows wall comments.) Their comments are being quickly deleted by moderators, but FreakOutNation has taken screenshots.
“Dear Rick Perry, Since you are now Texas’s leading expert on women’s health care, maybe you can help me,” wrote Kathi Korteling regarding her upcoming menopause. Others asked about tampon brands, severe medical issues, concerns about lack of health care, and hyperbolic biblical dilemmas.
Sure, these women are trolling and their comments are being deleted as such. But under the humor, each commenter has a very real women’s health question, the outcome of which no Texas medical expert, but only Rick Perry, has the authority to resolve.
When you put it that way, there’s nothing funny about these comments at all.
Photo by Freakout Nation
