The transvaginal probe - Get Out of My Vagina!

The political shenanigans of last month here in Virginia prompted me to create a painting depicting how I feel about it.  Here's is what happened:  the General Assembly suddenly had a majority of Republicans in both houses, and the Governor, Bob McDonnell is a conservative Republican as well.  That gave them the perfect opportunity to try to pass legislation which had been in the background for years but had always been tabled by more moderate members of both houses.  One of the bills was the Personhood bill which would have defined a person as anyone who had been conceived - i.e. as soon as conception took place.  It could create absurd situations as well as life-threatening ones.  For example, if a woman found she had an ectopic pregnancy, her doctor would not be able to operate on her to save her life because it would threaten the life of the "person" in her tube - even though that "person" could in no way come to term in that woman's Fallopian Tube, and the mother would almost certainly die as a result of the pregnancy. Absurd consequences would be like a woman being able to claim the right to be in the HOV-2 lane because she had just had sex the night before and might be pregnant.  Thankfully that bill was not passed.

The other bill which concerned many people greatly was called the Ultrasound Bill.  It required that a woman get an ultrasound before she could have an abortion.  If she were less than 12 weeks pregnant, the only kind of ultrasound which would have any kind of effectiveness would be a vaginal probe.  She would not be able to refuse it.  At first she was required to see the picture.  The image would be put into her permanent medical records.  She would have to wait 24 hours after the ultrasound before getting the abortion.  People were in an uproar at the thought that a woman would be forced to have a vaginal probe inserted into her vagina - that is tantamount to the state's definition of rape - something being inserted into a woman's vagina against her will - so again, doctors could be in trouble just for trying to do their jobs.  And women who had been raped or incested, especially, could be re-traumatized by this procedure.  There were protests at the State Capital.  I went to one of them.  1100+ people stood silently by as the legislators walked to the Capital for the day's session.  They were soon informed by their aides why we were there.  Afterwards we went to their offices to speak with their aides and to express our strong opinions.  I only saw decent, kind, reasonable behavior on all sides.  The crowd was mixed age, mixed race, both genders.

The hoopla continued for more than a week with protestors going down to the GA (General Assembly) daily to witness the proceedings.  The Governor had originally come out in favor of the bill but soon became a bit more tentative.  The wording was changed to say the vaginal probe would not be required - they could have an abdominal sonogram instead - completely ineffective, but at least a step in the right direction. 

Sadly, the revised bill passed both houses and will become law.  Now a woman desiring to get an abortion - a legal procedure - will have to get an ultrasound at increased cost and will have to wait 24 hours before getting the abortion.  The effect will most likely be to keep poorer women from being able to afford abortions, and it will, of course, make it more ponderous and difficult for everyone.

What confuses me is that the same people who are FOR the ultrasound bill and who want to make abortion illegal again, are also against contraceptives AND against help for poor people.  How do they expect poor people to get out of poverty if they have no way to control their reproductive life.  I realize they could abstain from sex, but that is not realistic, especially not for married women.  And not really for anyone once they come of age.  Let's be real.

So it's a confusing time in our Commonwealth.  It appears that our lawmakers want us to return to the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant.  I sense they must be fearful that we will begin to have some real power and might begin to change things from how they are now.  I can understand how that could feel threatening.  But it is not OK with me.

Women are 51% of the population.  We could, actually, unseat these men who feel so threatened.  And we could create a fairer, more compassionate world to live in.  That is certainly my vote.

I have been stymied as to what to do about the situation.  I have been very vocal on Facebook.  I have ranted to friends and family.  I have journalled about it.  Then one morning I woke up with the image of this painting in  my head.  I knew I had to do it.  I am a visual artist, so it is beholden upon me to use my skills to do what I can do make a difference.  This is what I'm choosing to do about this problem.

The image is graphic, so if you're at work, you probably don't want to scroll down to see it.  Wait til you're in a private place.

The picture makes me feel uncomfortable to look at.  It was uncomfortable to work on.  But it needed to be done.  The man holding the probe is our illustrious governor, Bob McDonnell, parodied on Jon Stuart's show as Vaginal Probe McDonnell - the one with Vice Presidential aspirations.  No more!  The model is a bold and brave woman who was courageous enough to model for me because she believes in the message I am trying to get across - which is that the State has no right to be inserting themselves into our bodies.  No way.  No how.

If you are concerned about this issue, don't let the laws pass in your state.  VOTE in November.  Find out who is for such horrifying bills and vote them out of office.  You must get involved in order to keep this from happening where you live.  It is a national movement with major funding.  We can make a difference if we work together for change.  We women fought hard for our rights in the 20's and again in the 70's.  It is hard to believe we're back there again, but we are.  Please, please, please help us change the world for the better.  The alternative is truly frightening.


The image I painted is below the asterisks if you want to see it.  Feel free to share it freely with others.
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Call for Models for painting about vaginal probes

Call for models:
In Quaker Meeting this morning, I got a vision of a painting I am feeling compelled to do.  It is a wide open crotch shot of a woman being given a vaginal probe ultrasound by the State against her will.  It will not be an easy painting to look at.

I need a woman of child-bearing years and a middle aged man who will hold the probe to pose for me.  I also need to borrow said probe.  The woman's face (in distress) will be visible as will her vaginal region.  The man's face will not show.  I will take photographs and will paint from them.  It will be large (probably about 48" wide - life size).  I can photograph the man and woman separately so that he is not truly doing her harm or causing her distress.  I don't want to ask anyone to experience that, but I do want to indicate the horror of an unwanted probe being inserted into ones vagina.

If you are interested in posing for me, please contact me to let me know.

I am fiercely opposed to the bills the legislatures in our States have been passing this year, and I want to do what I can to express my opposition.  As a visual artist, one of my tools is my art.  I hope that seeing a graphic image of a woman getting this ultrasound will stick with people and will give the legislators pause and will help them consider their vote more carefully.  I hope it will also outrage people enough to make them do something about these egregious laws.  Images have power, as do words, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

It's time for images.

Call for Submissions for anthology about abortion

The week before I left for vacation for the Outer Banks, the General Assembly of Virginia was working hard considering bills which I found anathema.  Four particularly horrible ones were as follows:

The "Personhood" bill would give all the rights of a viable human being who was already alive to a fertilized egg at the moment of conception, thus defining personhood.  I'm not sure the delegates and senators considered all of the ramifications of this bill when they first read it, but it could cause problems in such situations as ectopic pregnancies.  That is when the zygote is implanted in the woman's fallopian tube.  The tube cannot expand to house the developing baby, and she could easily die if the pregnancy were allowed to continue.  If the Personhood bill were passed, the doctor would be committing murder and/or be accessory to a murder if he counseled the woman to end the pregnancy in order to save her life.  The zygote in this case would be completely unviable - the pregnancy could NOT come to term.  That's just one of the potential problems. 

The "Vaginal Probe" bill would require a woman who was planning to have an abortion to have a sonogram as part of her counseling process pre-abortion.  She would be required to look at the pictures, and the pictures would become part of her medical records.  She would not be able to refuse to have the sonogram.  The only kind of sonogram which would show the fetus before 12 weeks of pregnancy is a vaginal probe, an uncomfortable, invasive instrument.  Because the procedure is not medically indicated, insurance would not pay for it, thus adding between $500 and $2400 to the cost of an abortion.  Women who were raped or who experienced incest would not be excepted from the law, forcing them to undergo another violation of their vaginas without their permission.

Another law would give adoption agencies the right to not allow certain people to adopt if their values were against those people (i.e. gays).

And the 4th heinous bill would make it so that the state would no longer be allowed to fund or help fund abortions for poor women when the fetuses were either severely handicapped or would not be able to live once outside the womb.  Last year the state spent $7000 on such abortions.  I believe there were 11 of them.  Not a big expenditure.  I am guessing that the cost of those women giving birth and raising the children (when they lived at all) would greatly exceed the cost of the abortions.  Presumably, this is a way to make sure the state does not have anything to do with supporting abortion in any way.  Our governor, Bob McDonnell, is a strong proponent of anti-choice.

Thousands of people raised their voices in protest.  Here's a link to one of the Facebook sites which is being used to organize resistance.  One day we all rallied at the General Assembly, in silence, to ask our legislators to please not pass these bills.  Over 1100 people were there: women, men, children, nuns, women in burqas.  It was a completely civil protest.  Afterwards we went to our senators' and delegates' offices to state our opinions.  The aides were very courteous and took our opinions down to share with their bosses.  Such protests continued all week, with folks filling the GA gallery, wearing their red armbands to indicate their affiliation and desires.

I followed the happenings on FB and online as the GA passed the Vaginal Probe bill.  It was modified to indicated that an abdominal sonogram could be used (completely useless medically) and that women who were raped or who suffered incest could forgo it.  but it passed.  The governor, who is potentially under consideration as a VP candidate, signed it into law.

The Personhood bill did not pass.  It was passed over until next session.

The bill to keep low income women from having a state-funded abortion died in the State Finance Committee.

I don't know the fate of the abortion bill.

Here's a link to a terrific article outlining more than I've written if you're interested.

All these bills and the threat they offer to our hard won rights as women have turned me into an activist.  I feel personally threatened and enraged as a woman even though my childbearing years have passed.  I want my daughter and granddaughters and nieces and everyone else to have the right to make their own choices about their own bodies.  It's a horrible choice to have to make to terminate a pregnancy, but it is none of my business what another woman decides.  How can I possibly think I have the right to legislate her choice?  Adding shame and public humiliation to the mix is just not helpful.  It does not improve society or community, and it certainly won't stop people from having sex.

OK, enough rant.

Here's what I'm doing about it:  a couple of friends and I have decided to compile an anthology of personal stories about abortion.  Below I will paste the letter we sent out asking folks to submit their stories about abortion if they feel so moved.  Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested.  We are also interested in stories from people who chose NOT to have abortions, who had their children or who gave them up for adoption.  This is an exceedingly complex issue, and we want the book to hold that complexity with gentleness and honor. 

Dear Friends,

The current explosion of political and media attention on the subject of abortion and reproductive rights has prompted much thought, discussion and activism among us. Clearly, there are many outspoken proponents of a woman’s right to choose and the unborn’s right to life. However, while the statistics say 3 in 10 women have had an abortion in her lifetime, these women and their experiences are faceless and obscure. There seems to be a predominant veil of silence about a woman’s experience sometimes even among close friends. We’ve noticed little to no attention has been given to the implications for and affects on women who have chosen to have an abortion in our modern day culture.

Given this fact we are inspired to gather and share the real stories of women who have made the choice to terminate a pregnancy or who have chosen to continue with an unwanted pregnancy and to raise the child or to give it up for adoption. We have decided to compile an anthology of women’s stories of their experiences with this challenging choice. We are contacting friends like you to see if you have a story that you would like to share. Or if you know someone who would be interested in sharing his or her story,please pass this letter on to him or her. We hope to include a broad range of experiences and perspectives. Along those lines, we are also open to submissions from partners or loved ones of a woman who has had an abortion.

If you have a story you want to share, here are the submission details:

^·          Notify us of your intention to submit your story by March 30, 2012.  Write us at facesofabortion@hotmail.com

·         2-12 pages, personal essay, prose or poetry submitted by June 1, 2012 to facesofabortion@hotmail.com.  We welcome receiving them earlier as we are trying to get the book done in record time!

·         Submit in Word

·         This will be one-time rights

·         We intend to notify you by August 1, 2012 if your piece will be included in the anthology.

·         Compensation for chosen submissions has not been finalized.

We hope to have the book finished and ready to go by Oct 1, 2012 in the hopes it can have an impact on the political races this Fall.  We are still looking for a publisher, so if you have contacts to agents or publishers, please let us know.

Thank you for your willingness to share your story.  This is in service to all humanity.

Sincerely,

Susan Singer, Joan Maher, Leslie Lytle