OTC Pregnancy tests will be next

[Cerridwen]

I've got to post and run to work soon, but I wanted to make sure this thought got out there.

As the states, one by one, are banning legal abortions, I've seen questions by people here at DU wondering how they'll enforce the bans. Controlling doctors is one obvious way.

Another less obvious way of controlling women's access to abortion will be to remove over the counter pregnancy tests and make women go to their doctor for pregnancy tests. Just like the old days. From there it can be tracked and monitored and "they" can make sure we don't go to some abortion friendly state to terminate a pregnancy. The alternative for a woman is to wait until it's obvious that she's pregnant. Which means the pregnancy will be further along and also more dangerous to abort. Rock, meet hard place.

That, in my opinion, is how they will again put women at the mercy of system.

I hope I'm wrong; but I haven't been wrong about the abortion and birth control issue so far.

Tell me again how Roberts and Alito weren't worth a filibuster or 10?!

:mad:

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. I think you are right. They'll find a way to get rid of them unless the

companies that make them get a lot of $$ from selling them, in which case they might kick up enough of a fuss that greed wins out over fundyism.

[drhilarius]

5. As much as I despise greed, I have to admit...

greed seems to be one of the only effective defense against fundyism. For instance, big pharma will never, ever let them outlaw birth control. It seems money trumps Jesus when it counts.

[SoCalDem]

2. Yep.. Republicans love to get their noses into all the "girl" business

Only girls have "naughty bits", so they must have a republican monitoring what's happening with them..


When the movie comes out, it will probably be named:

The Revenge of the Pantysniffers

[A Simple Game]

9. It has come out, it's called The Handmaiden's Tale. n/t

[jmowreader]

3. They'll TRY, but you know why that won't happen...

OTC pregnancy tests are made by Big Pharma. EPT, for instance, is made by Pfizer--a HUGE donor to the GOP.

And Pfizer makes a shitload of money on this product.

The GOP may love the little unborn children, but they love the little green $100 bills even more.

Besides, you can still test for pregnancy with rabbits. And SOMEONE would figure out what's in those pregnancy test sticks and publish it on the internets...

[eyesroll]

4. I don't see that happening.

There's a decent amount of money in OTC pregnancy tests. They're the most widely used home diagnostic test in the U.S. after blood-sugar-monitoring devices.

Nobody has to ingest anything or prick their finger -- you just pee on a stick -- so there's no "medical risk." They're accurate. Aside from a test-specific recall, there'd be no grounds for the FDA to pull them off the market.

You have to remember that in "the old days," OTC pregnancy tests just didn't exist (they came on the market in 1977, according to NIH). People had to go to the doctor not because religious zealots blocked the tests, but because the tests hadn't been invented yet.

If OTC tests were a new, not-yet-approved technology, I could see perhaps a wingnut FDA blocking the release (a la emergency contraception), but it's already out there.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. If they tried to get rid of them, it wouldn't be on a safety issue.

They would try to make them illegal on moral grounds. Don't know what the argument would be on that, but the fundies could come up with one, I'm sure.

[Greyhound]

6. Well said. I am so disgusted with the Democrats I don't know whether

to scream or cry. Not one of these assholes are doing anything at all. Dog save the world from the amerikan sheeple.

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I hope you are wrong, too, and this is something that I hadn't even

considered. It would be a logical step to prevent women from controlling their own bodies.

[mtnester]

10. It is actually worse than eliminating OTC tests..look here (again Ohio)

Ohio (my bastard government...sonsofbitches) placed a sneaky little provision without hearing into a passed law at the last minute, and it is on the Governor's (if you want to call him that) desk.

for details, here you go:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=172&topic_id=14411&mesg_id=14411

What it does, ultimately, is allows pro life doctors to NOT tell a woman that her unborn has Downs, spina bifida, etc...so that the woman has:

1. No reason to abort
2. AND it protects the doctors civilly after the fact from legal action from the parents having the child without the informed opportunity to abort.

Now, many many parents do make that decision to go ahead with the pregnancy, BUT they are fully informed. Like LibNurse says - the republicans do NOT want a woman to know about what goes on in her body, and I say nor do they want her to control it either.

Go ahead, read about this little sneaky nasty thing they did.

[Hello_Kitty]

11. They'll lock them behind the counter

And you'll have to get a signed permission note from your parents or husband to get one. Sam Alito will write the majority opinion upholding it.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. Yeah, I could see that happening, actually.

[Greyhound]

13. A law to require the registration of any pregnancy. That will be their

solution. Huge drug pushers will keep their profit centers and the insane-religious-fucks can enforce their will on poor women.
Thank you very much Democratic Party for abandoning your duty and your constituency. I believe you will feel the heat and pay the price soon. :grr:

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Hey, why stop there? Why not require women in their fertile years

to be subjected to monthly pregnancy tests at town hall (women pay for the tests naturally). Jail and/or fine if a woman doesn't show up.