mstashers:

safe-legal-abortion-is-prolife:

[tw: brief discussion of rape and rape culture]

i have seen a shocking number of people who seem to believe that by giving consent to receive abortion services, people have waved their right to decline other medical procedures.

let me preface this post by saying that i tend to find most analogies infuriatingly unhelpful at best and dangerously hurtful at worst. analogies in debates are most often very poorly executed, such that they tend to lead to red herrings and completely tangential arguments. and i’m staunchly not a fan of comparing rape to anything other than rape. such comparisons are often grossly inaccurate and also serve to trivialize the experiences of survivors of sexualized assualt. however, i don’t think it’s a complete misrepresentation to claim that virginia’s decision to require pregnant people to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound before obtaining abortion care is a type of state sanctioned rape. the state is allowing people to be vaginally penetrated against their will. but not only are they allowing it, they’re requiring it. they are forcing people to undergo an invasive and medically unnecessary procedure in order to access abortion services.

now. let’s make something crystal clear here. just because a person consents to one procedure does not (or at least should not) mean they have foregone the right to refuse a separate (and medically unnecessary) one. and let’s remember: forced consent or coercion is not the same thing as consent. i’m sure you’ve heard the saying “it’s not consent if you make me afraid to say no”? well, it’s not consent if you make me say yes in order to obtain the medical care i require.

being unable to say no in order to obtain the medical procedure you need is not consent

it’s misunderstandings such as this that perpetuate the rape culture in which we live. the idea that once a woman* says yes to one act, she’s preemptively said yes to all acts. well let me clear something up for you:

that’s not how it works!

consent to one act =/= consent to all acts

i find the fact that so many people seem to believe it does (including, like, the state of virginia) to be troubling and crushingly heartbreaking.

seriously, what kind of regressive world are we living in when people are fighting so hard not just to strip people of their human rights but also to officially sanction and promote rape culture. there are enough allowances for and covert promotion of rape culture in society already; we really don’t need overt government permission and enforcement to validate it. no. we actually need, like, the. exact. opposite.

nb: if there is anyone who still feels that it is completely inappropriate to label this situation ‘rape’ or finds it completely insensitive to those who are survivors of sexualized assault, please feel free to let me know. i would be interested to hear from you.

(via rapeculturerealities)

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