Sunday, July 14, 2013

One Giant Step Backward for Humankind: Anti-Abortion Crusader Rick Perry Signs Sweeping Anti-Abortion Bill in Texas

Despite Wendy Davis' 11-hour filibuster on June 25 as Jupiter ingressed Cancer conjunct Black Moon Lilith, a sweeping anti-abortion bill has been passed in Texas.

Texas Governor and rabid anti-abortion crusader (yet also, rabid death penalty advocate) Rick Perry called a special session of the Texas Senate specifically to pass the bill.

Unless lawsuits stop it, this bill will close 37 of the 42 abortion clinics in the state, severely limiting access to abortions, especially for women outside major urban areas.

The bill requires that all abortion procedures be performed at a surgical centre. It also requires that all doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles (48km) of the clinic.

Only a handful of Texas abortion clinics fall within those parameters, and all are in urban centres.

Under the new bill, women will be required to travel hundreds of miles to receive an abortion. This brings up issues of transportation, time off work, and the cost of overnight stays, which will be a particular deterrent for women in lower income brackets. When you're low income, taking time off work often means losing your job.

This bill is a direct attack against the poor.

Logically, it will increase the number of low-income babies being born, and the Republicans just love those freeloaders, don't they?

They become cannon fodder or poisoned consumers at 18 years of age, but for some reason, those fetuses are just oh-so-precious to the anti-abortion Republican crowd.

Often, women must obtain abortions in secret. This bill makes it almost impossible for women to exercise their free will on this issue in a discreet and private manner.

The anti-abortion bill also limits abortion-inducing drugs like the morning-after pill and bans abortions past 20 weeks of gestation.

Despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, U.S. states are now taking it into their own hands to stop abortions. Similar bills that severely limit abortion have been passed in Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Some details here.


Ohio's Republican Governor John Kasich signing his very own sweeping anti-abortion bill. Legislating women's bodies: see anything wrong with this picture?
 

Last year, it was the waves of forced sonogram laws passed in Texas, Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina. These laws force women to submit to trans-vaginal sonograms while their doctor attempts to talk them out of having an abortion - at the abortion clinic itself! Under these laws, women are also forced to wait 24 hours after the sonogram before they can have the procedure.

You can see the step-by-step, Pluto in Capricorn-era advancement into a society where women are forced baby carriers, risking their lives under the yoke of the authoritarian state. You can see the step-by-step advancement of patriarchal control over women's bodies and women's psyches. You can see the step-by-step advancement into a version of the Aquarian era future so regressive that people (myself included) would prefer not to live through it.

This regressive, authoritarian march is going on in waves, and it's going on all over this planet.

War planet Mars has now entered Cancer, the sign of the mother, and is triggering the Jupiter-Black Moon Lilith conjunction. The attack against women's reproductive rights is on full force, and women are now being forced against their wills (Mars) to become mothers (Cancer).

From a previous post:

"With Mars lighting up a Grand Water Trine and a cardinal t-square this July, things are going to get hot, triggered, and feisty. These aspects are an indicator that we can expect continued attacks against women's reproductive rights by the Old Boys Club pseudo-religious version of reality trying desperately to cement itself during transiting Pluto in Capricorn. We can expect moves to be made by the patriarchal hierarchies to increase control on all fronts. The nuclear family unit, keeping people neatly tied up, occupied, and under control, will continue to be promoted as the only truly acceptable way to go...

All this requires that women in particular stand up, speak out, and exert themselves on the issues that really matter to them, rather than allowing others to fight in their stead."

The planet leading us into the new era, Uranus, is currently very potent as it slows to station retrograde July 17 at 12 degrees Aries. Uranus goes retrograde under the Grand Water Trine involving Jupiter-Black Moon Lilith-Mars in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio, and Neptune in Pisces. It will station direct December 17, 2013 at 8 degrees Aries.

After the retrograde station, Uranus will move backward into the fourth of seven squares to Pluto in Capricorn, exact October 31, 2013.

This square series (2012-2015) is hot, clashing, do-or-die. We're battling it out over the next few years for the future of this planet, for the soul of this planet. Make no mistake about it. The stakes are that high.

There is an extremely regressive, oppressive, and authoritarian force attempting to lock itself into power now (Pluto in Capricorn). It's up to us to match it, to challenge it, and to disrupt it (Uranus) every step of the way.

Things will not be letting up much from August 2013 through April 2014, as we experience multiple cardinal Grand Crosses involving Uranus and Pluto.

The anti-abortion bills recently passed will now be tied up with lawsuits.

Please do not take any of your human rights for granted. They're all up for renewal under this square series, and we have to fight on every last point.

These battles are far from over. They've only just begun.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Willow,
Please add North Carolina to the list of restrictive abortion "rights" of women - under the guise of women's right to protective/safe healthcare.

Looks like ALEC is behind all of these bills in these states.

I will sign myself:
Appalled

Willow said...

It is certainly appalling, Appalled.

OK, North Carolina is included in the forced sonogram laws, but have they also passed a bill requiring that all abortions be performed in surgical centres by doctors with hospital admitting privileges?

Willow said...

North Carolina has another dubious honour:

It's the state that keeps a list of women who refuse to see the sonogram/listen to the heartbeat.

Anonymous said...

Yes, North Carolina is poised to pass a bill where only 1 center in the state will qualify to perform abortions - no Planned Parenthood centers will be allowed the procedure to take place.

NC is also putting pressure on restricting RU-486 availability. I would not be surprised to find "the morning after pill" outlawed very soon here.

Appalled

Willow said...

OK, yes, so it's in the works in North Carolina, also.

They passed the forced sonogram law, so this is the next step.

It's horrifying.

Willow said...

Mississippi currently has only one operational abortion clinic for a population of almost three million people. If they pass this "surgical center/admitting privileges" law, it will close, also. That would make it the first state that will not perform abortions.

Anonymous said...

There seems to be a crusade to control women's behavior and women's bodies. Wrapped in the flag, and carrying a cross, these people are determined to force women to do as they say.

Here's a comment from Joyce Carol Oates: " ...One of the primary roles of the most benign-seeming religions is to closely monitor, police, & punish female sexuality. Why this effort?"

You have to wonder.

Anonymous said...

Appalled says:
Ok, my buttons are being pushed today so here's another thought:

WTF are there no laws passed restricting male involvement in the conception process?? (Ok, that was a stupid question). So, it's ok for a guy to "dip his Wick" or "guys will be guys" attitude and who suffers the consequences? Women...
Since you cannot legally determine who is the sperm donor of the fetus - until birth - there is no way to enact a similar restriction/punishment on men.

I need to relax....

Willow said...

The Moon is in Libra in cardinal Grand Cross today, so it's a stirred up kind of day. Preview of the cardinal Grand Crosses coming August 2013 to April 2014, though, so this is just the beginning...

But yes. Try to relax. You're not the only one whose buttons are being pushed on this issue. Our buttons are purposefully being pushed, I'd say. So we have to outsmart the reactions.

Anonymous said...

Willow and Appalled, speaking of buttons being pushed: in a respectful attempt to honor this serious issue with a bit of therapeutic perspective: I'd like to mention an obscure history book I found recently: " ''The Technology of Orgasm: 'Hysteria,' the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction'' (Johns Hopkins Press, 1999)

The book notes that the vibrator was first developed as a labor-saving device for doctors. Yes. Until about the 1920's, doctors were in charge of doling out female orgasms, and they charged their female patients a handsome fee for this service.

As the authors note: Women's 'hysteria' or 'womb furie' had been a problem even before Hippocrates hung out his shingle, and since "...religious edicts prohibited women from self-exploration..." the task of dealing with the problem fell to medical authorities (mostly male).

Doctors used vibrators for all kinds of medical treatments, but female hysteria was high on the list. Finally, in the 20's, women gained their own access to these devices--maybe as a corollary to gaining the right to vote. Maybe politicians figured this issue was one they just didn't want to tackle.

Except in Alabama. Ladies, only heaven can help you if you live in Alabama! The state that proudly allows the sale of Viagra still prohibits the sale of vibrators, under the guise of safety concerns for women's health. Now where have we heard that one before?

It's terrible that the dark ages are looming again, but I'm confident we can work smart on these issues. Thanks, Willow for providing a forum! Somewhere, Lucy Stone is smiling. And texting.

Anonymous said...

As always, Willow is right!

My Aries Sun and Libra Moon is being hit from all sides so I need to listen to reason, and wait for the best time to make the most of my energy!

Appalled

Willow said...

"Ladies, only heaven can help you if you live in Alabama! The state that proudly allows the sale of Viagra still prohibits the sale of vibrators, under the guise of safety concerns for women's health."

WHAT?! Oh, wow. Wow.

Thank-you for that fascinating information, Anon! It really was therapeutic.

Joe said...

One thing that this blog does is it helps me see the bigger picture. Otherwise, I'd be cowering in a corner, muttering "Am *I* crazy? Is it just me? Am I the only one who can see this bullshit for what it is?"

Is it safe to say that Saturn in Scorpio is stirring up this vibe about sex and sexuality and throwing it right up against the Pluto in Cap authoritarianism? We've got women's sexuality being controlled in order to control sexual activity and abortions and birth control, and then the whole gay marriage thing along with the general antipathy toward GLBT folks.

Well, if my hunch about Saturn in Scorpio is correct, then I see it now: it's about limiting who gets to have sex, and who is allowed to express their sexuality.

Thanks for being a beam of light in this mess.

Anonymous said...

I swear to god(dess), we have an all-out war against women on our hands! Read this related story:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/virginia-abortion-clinic_n_3599262.html

"NOVA Women's Healthcare, which had been located in a Fairfax City, Va. office building since 2006, needed to either upgrade its facilities or move to a new location after state regulations changed to require clinics to meet strict, hospital-level building standards. The Associated Press reports that the clinic submitted an application to retrofit another space to meet the new codes, but was denied due to inadequate parking."

Are you fucking kidding me? "inadequate parking"? It really sickens me the tactics the Old Boys Club uses to oppress women and advance their agendas. That's a bullshit guise if I ever did see one. WTF?!

It looks like the lines have been drawn by the patriarchy, alright. And I know what side I'm standing on when push is coming to shove. And believe me, it is.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck this shit!

I saw this coming a couple of years ago when I noticed the good old US of A was going to be having a Jupiter Return during the height of the Uranus-Pluto square. This Old Guard full of corrupt misogynists (Pluto in Cap) is trying to impose their religious dogma (Jupiter) on women (Cancer). Folks, if you value your freedom and loves your civil liberties, it's time to start screamin' Uranus in Aries style. Enough's enough - may the backlash against this warped-ass legislation be swift and fierce!

Anonymous said...

This breaks my heart. I remember volunteering for NARAL of Central Ohio 20 years ago when they passed a terrible "informed consent" law. I never thought things would get worse for women, I always thought we would have the blanket of Roe v Wade to protect us but now it's obvious we were in some sort of dream.
I can't wait for the bodies of dead Texas women to start showing up in Mexico - victims of toxic abortifacients obtained over the border. Wait for the day when more babies are born and left to die in dumpsters, in alleys.

(Yes.. I am being heavily sarcastic here)

Slut shaming has never been a solution for anything in this country, I don't know why Texas, NC, Wisconsin, Alabama, think it will work this time.

American women are smarter than that and will not buy the brand of "crazy" that these politicians are selling.

Unfortunately, this is going to cost women their lives.

I would love for just one of these narrow minded twats to spend 48 hours in the body of a young woman faced with this decision.

Feeling the nausea of morning sickness, worried about how she's going to pay the rent (or where she'll live), how she would be able to keep working with a baby to care for. Whether or not her deadbeat abusive boyfriend (or his parents) will show up and want to be "part of the child's life" and a million other horrors. Medical insurance - oh right - no insurance at her 2 part-time jobs.

Just let them experience those emotions as that woman, not as some chippie from a wealthy family that has mummy or daddy to take her in and support her.

All women want is the ability to make this horrible decision for themselves with dignity and privacy.

I only ask to be around to sell t-shirts and roast marshmallows when Uranus catches up with Eris, oh maybe 6 years from now.

- Deteriorata

Willow said...

"American women are smarter than that and will not buy the brand of "crazy" that these politicians are selling."

I'm not sure about that. There's a whole new generation of American women all too happy to be subservient to men. They consider feminism an evil plot designed to keep them from their divine duties as submissive mothers and housewives.

Michelle "abortion is a baby holocaust" Duggar hails from Amurrika, as well. She's an extreme representative of this strain of thought.

But yes, rich women will always have access to abortions, just as they will always have access to the best health care available.

These laws are direct attacks against poor and low income women.

The emotional hell women go through that is swept under the rug as unimportant is a big part of Black Moon Lilith. With Black Moon Lilith opposing Pluto in Capricorn, we see this happening again. Or rather, the attempt at it.

Sofia said...

there is a price tag attached to every single human being in the USA if you commit a financial chrime and you make a deal with a gov you can get 15-20 years depends how much money is being stolen...etc but if you take a person life you are death or spend the rest of your life in jail because there is a price tag attached to every single human being from birth till death because the system designed:TO KEEP YOU IN DEBT AND FINANCIAL STRAIN FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE money is time in it's very essence in the USA,i think this is gonna increase new born murderes and more and more babies will be left at a firefighters under the safe haven laws why man making decision in regard of the female body? they are totally clueless

Anonymous said...

Why isn't anyone bringing up the politics that go on in hospital administration.

It's almost impossible for a DR at a hospital to do abortions. It's way too politically charged for any of the highly paid board members and administrators to touch.

Much more pressure should be applied there, where it could make a big difference.

The "limits" that seek to steer women into hospitals are taking advantage of this situation.

There is a reason these clinics set up outside of hospitals.

Very worried, this is obviously a very well funded and controlled effort to divide and conquer, yet again.

#motorcylevagina

Anonymous said...

I think any woman in these states who wants to have sex without getting pregnant should move away. Either that or all women in these states who don't want a child should "boycott" sex. When they get raped, they should sent the guy to prison. I'd love to see some of these perfect republic rich guys in jail with the poor people that they obviously want a war with.
by the way, i've got a cardinal grand square and sun and mars 0 degrees aqu and scorp. I'm overwhelmed.

Anonymous said...


I believe what needs to change is the attitude men have about sex. There seems to be a "truth" handed about between men that if a woman will have sex with you, she is a slut.
If she is a slut, then she is to be treated with no respect. This is why they "love and leave."

Where, I have asked myself, are they getting this idea? I'm afraid the answer is that their Mothers are teaching them this fallacy.

Once again, it appears to me that women, in the form of Mother energy, are to blame for the bad treatment of other women. It's a form of jealousy. We should shine a spotlight on the women behind these law makers. That's where you'll find the real evil.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, we should look to the women behind these law makers. In truth, it is the hand that rocks the cradle that rules the world. Someone is teaching these men that women who will have sex with them are by definition, sluts. If they are sluts, then they are to be treated with no respect. What confuses me is that these lawmakers wish to force all sluts to become mothers. Are they sure that's wise? LOL.