A letter to Senator Silk: "You are not a woman"

Dear Senator Silk,

My name is Sarah Hoss and I am writing you with regard to Senate Bill 1118. I have read your proposed bill and am incredibly disturbed by it. You would have any attempts of an abortion in which an embryonic or fetal heartbeat is present to be outlawed. You have written strong language in your proposal that puts excessive pressure on the medical physician and the patient to choose not to abort the embryo/fetus in the presence of a heartbeat. I have always considered the current bill invasive, unnecessary, and anti-women. Your proposal has taken it to the next level of extremism and both you and it must be stopped.

I will not debate with you on the moment in which life begins. You are clearly neither a scientist nor a physician and so whatever opinions you have on the matter are strictly your own. What we can agree upon is that you are not a woman. A woman’s decision to have an abortion is incredibly personal and difficult. A woman does not make this decision lightly and by the time she goes to a clinic, she has committed to that decision. It is absolutely offensive to require the medical field to attempt to intervene with the decision of that woman, especially by threatening criminal prosecution against physicians who respect their patients. Physicians who specialize in fertility treatments are also understandably concerned with this proposed legislation. They do not want to go jail while they help couples become pregnant through procedures such as in vitro fertilization.

Your legislation will not stop abortions. Your legislation will cause more deaths because women who choose to have an abortion will be forced to undergo procedures that are neither safe nor regulated. Consider, for a moment, someone other than yourself. You are not a woman and cannot possibly understand what a woman goes through when making the decision to have an abortion. Please back off on women as I have asked you to do for the LGBT community.

Sincerely,
Sarah Hoss

The Gayly - 3/10/2016 @ 1:07 p.m. CST