Oklahoma Abortion Law: Details To Be Publicly Posted Online

A new Oklahoma law requires physicians to disclose detailed information on women's abortions to the State's Department Of Health, which will then post the collected data on a public website. The controversial measure comes into effect on November 1 and will cost $281,285 to implement, $256,285 each subsequent year to maintain.

Oklahoma women undergoing abortion procedures will be legally forced to reveal:

1) Date of abortion
2) County in which abortion is performed
3) Age of mother
4) Marital status of mother
5) Race of mother
6) Years of education of mother
7) State or foreign country of residence of mother
8) Total number of previous pregnancies of the mother

Proponents of the legislation claim that women should not be concerned over their privacy since no names or "personal information" will be reported. This defense is questionable. Feminists For Choice argues, "In reviewing the actual text of the law, the first 8 questions that will be asked and reported could easily be used to identify any member of a smaller community."

The Center For Reproductive Rights, former state Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton (D-Okla.), and Okla. resident Lora Joyce David have filed a lawsuit to prevent this contentious abortion bill from going into effect, on the grounds that it violates the state's constitution.

via huffingtonpost.com

i've no business in Oklahoma, nor do i know anyone there. this is also a state issue, not a federal one... i think.

but there are 26 Republicans and 22 Democrats in the State Senate, and this seems like something that neither side should think is a good idea. i mean, really? posting this information ONLINE!?

if you read the bill in full (the link is in the word "reveal"), the questions that are available for answering and posting online are just criminally personal.

/doublefacepalm

edit: i feel like i should make an editorial note and state that this isn't even about ProLife/ProChoice unless you really, really want it to be. this is something that could easily lead into other areas of your very personal life being exposed in a very public forum (although, thankfully, no one's using names... yet).

Tagged abortion bill 1595 law oklahoma politics privacy public

clarification

i tweeted earlier tonight...

i'm tired of politics.

like, really really REALLY tired of it.

barely anyone has anything worth a damn to say anymore.

[end rant]

and i do mean it, as stated in an earlier post a few weeks (couple months?) back.

what i mean to say is that i'm tired of the current state of politics. there are maybe... two (?) folks i know on the other end of the spectrum that are willing or able to have an open, honest debate that won't have their friends gang up or allow discussion to devolve into a weiner-slingin' match. its just gotten stupid, and it was evidenced moreso last week when America failed to bring the prize of the 2016 Olympic Games home to Chicago. i mean, cheering? really? we're happy that America failed to win hosting duties for the world?

did anyone cheer when New York lost the bid for the 2012 games? was anyone happy or willing to slag on about Bush's inability to bring that home? if they did, i certainly don't remember it, and i personally didn't revel in it. it was a loss for the nation, just as this is.

its just dumb.

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things on the home front are good. this is Jackie's last week of work for PI, which is at once incredibly exciting and liberating and jump-outta'-my-skin frightening. and i don't have much more to add to that. LAP is still very much a grassroots effort and we're depending on a whole lotta' word of mouth to get the news out there that we're available and ready. 

a couple of jobs have trickled in from random strangers, and that's a very encouraging sign; it also makes me a little prideful that i've been going about this the right way as far as basic SEO and inserting the business into Google, Yelp, Bing, Yahoo, and Facebook search results. the Montgomery photography business is a crowded field, but i feel we have a few distinctive advantages (and tricks) versus other folks. its simply a matter of exposing those plusses to a wider audience without breaking the bank on advertising that will be a challenge.

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g'night.
Tagged family life little acorn Montgomery photography politics