Utah’s new “Fetal Pain” Law
So, Utah has passed a new law, and here’s what it breaks down to (so far):
Because “fetuses feel pain” (they don’t), now people having abortions at 20 weeks, or later, are required to have painkillers or anesthesia, which they’re calling, “fetal anesthesia”. Basically, what antichoicers are arguing is that at 20 weeks, the fetus feels pain, so you should have to numb it, before aborting it. The idea is that if you just have the abortion, the fetus is suffering longer, and so this way, the fetus “can’t feel the pain” (which is annoying, because it can’t either way, but what the fuck ever).
The law is ridiculously vague, which has (rightfully) pissed off doctors. Before having an abortion at 20 weeks, or later, the pregnant person is already offered painkillers and anesthesia, which by default end up in the fetus’s system too, but antichoicers are now requiring the pregnant person to have these. They haven’t specified what kind though, or how it needs to be administrated.
Another really annoying thing about this too, is that it seems as though antichoicers aren’t addressing the fact that more than half of abortions happening at this point, are literary happening to dead fetuses.
tl;dr: Here’s (from my understanding) the break down of the new law:
-If you’re having an abortion at 20 weeks, or later, you are required to take anesthesia, “for the baby”
-Exceptions are made for cases of rape, and incest
-Or, if two doctors agree in writing that the fetus has a “uniformly lethal” condition
-Now, as part of all the “pre abortion” bs info they give, doctors are also required to tell people that fetuses at 20 weeks feel a ton of pain, and that there’s “substantial medical evidence” of this, which you know, there isn’t.
-Doctors who violate this mystery law (I’m calling it that, since they’ve made it very unclear how doctors are to follow this law) can lose their license, or get $1000s of dollars in fines.
-The law goes in to effect tomorrow (May 10, 2016)
In either case, I’ll keep updating as I find/learn more about it, but keep this on your radar.