Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett Thinks State-Sanctioned Rape is ‘The Way to Go’

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About a month ago, the Pennsylvania House tabled Pennsylvania’s disastrous transvaginal ultrasound bill (HB 1077). In many ways, HB 1077 is even worse than the original transvaginal ultrasound bill proposed in Virginia.  At the time, I wrote the following about an article in Think Progress discussing the bill:

The Think Progress article notes that the legislation was amended to remove references to transvaginal ultrasounds — I’m not sure if this is correct.  I have read both versions of the bill (or what I think are both versions) and I don’t see any references to transvaginal ultrasounds or probes in either bill.

Regardless, whether there is (or ever was) reference to transvaginal ultrasounds or not,  here’s the point: The bill requires a woman to get an ultrasound within 24 hours and would be rquired to get an ultrasound to make an accurate determination of gestational age.  In many cases, a determination of gestational age cannot be made with the “jelly on the belly” ultrasound.  Therefore, in order to meet the requirements of the bill, a woman may still be forced to under go a transvaginal ultrasound procedure.

And, the fact that administering  ”jelly on the belly” ultrasound won’t necessarily result in an accurate determination of gestational rage, it stands to reason that this bill serves no purpose whatsoever aside from shaming women.

Republicans in Pennsylvania are trying to be slick, hoping that women won’t notice.  They are hoping to avoid the wrath of women in a way Virginia Republicans were unable to. They don’t want to deal with angry women on the streets.

Over a month later, and despite the fact that the Pennsylvania House tabled HB 1077, Governor Corbett can’t stop talking about it.  He loves HB 1077!  He thinks forced ultrasounds are “the way to go”! Obviously, state-sanctioned rape will help dumb ladies realize what it is they’re doing when they go on an abortion spree:

“I said, you can’t make somebody watch it,” the governor explained. “You can put the monitor in front of them but you can’t make them watch it.”

“I think we have over 30,000 abortions a year in Pennsylvania,” he continued. “When you see that kind of number, if an ultrasound, which is not invasive at all, would convince somebody maybe to carry that baby to term and give it up for adoption and save that life, I think that’s the way to go.”

Yyyyyup! Shoving a wand into a woman’s vagina without her consent is definitely the way to go!  Right? RIGHT?

I cannot with these people.

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****The TeamU Wiki page for Pennsylvania can be found here.