This may be old news for many, but this week The Register-Guard showed repeats of classic Doonesbury comics instead of the current storyline related to the anti-abortion laws recently passed in Texas requiring any woman wanting an abortion to go through a thorough counseling that involves a required-by-law lecture by doctors, an invasive sonogram, and a 24 hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed.
I had heard that many papers around the country were not going to publish the comics this week or move it to a different section, but I was surprised when I discovered that The Register-Guard did not publish it when I read the comics at work this morning. I don't get the paper, and the only time I get a chance to read it is while I'm at work, which I didn't do until Saturday this week.
The story begins with a woman walking to a receptionist in a clinic asking if she was in the right location for the sonogram. The receptionist asks if it's her first abortion. She then hands the woman some paperwork to fill out and asks her to wait in the shaming room where a state legislator will be with her shortly.
The story continues with a balding middle aged man identifying himself as Sid Patrick and a co-sponsor of the bill asking her if she was new to the clinic. The woman replied that she was not a new client and she had been coming to the clinic for awhile for birth control. The man pauses briefly before asking the woman if her parents knew she is such a slut. This alludes to the recent news of Rush Limbaugh and his unfortunate comments regarding a young college student who spoke before a House Committee regarding birth control. He called her both a slut and a prostitute. The legislator himself seems to be an amalgamation of Texas State Senator Dan Patrick and State Representative Sid Miller, both of whom were contributors to the new law.
The next day we find the woman sitting in front of a doctor as he very obviously reads to the woman a scripted description of the procedure that she would be going through. When the woman asks the doctor why he's reading it to her, he reads from the script that her doctor "cannot be trusted" to provide her with all the information she needs to make an informed decision on the consequences of going through with an abortion.
The story continues with what is more than likely the most controversial of the strips for this storyline. The woman lies on a hospital bed protesting that she doesn't want a trans-vaginal sonogram. The doctor explains to her that since she is first trimester the law requires such a sonogram, which the doctor describes as a shaming wand. What the strip doesn't go into detail about is that while the law doesn't state what kind of sonogram to provide the woman, to fit the letter of the law, only a trans-vaginal sonogram will provide the correct images for a woman in her first trimester.
Next we see the woman still on a hospital bed talking to her doctor. He tells her that he is required to describe her fetus in real time. He points to portions of the screen saying that this dot could be one body part or another, alluding to the fact that the fetus is so underdeveloped at that point there's not much to see. He mockingly asks her if she'd like him to also describe the child's hopes and dreams.
Finally in the last panel we find the woman standing before the receptionist once more, having finally gone through the entire process, asking where she must go for the actual abortion itself. Much the to woman's chagrin, the receptionist informs her that she must wait 24 hours before she can have the procedure done to allow time for shame to cause her to change her mind.
I'm disappointed with The Register-Guards decision to censor these comics. While they did provide a link on their website to allow their readers to view these comics if they chose, this is still a cop-out. This is an important topic that should not be shied away from just because it is "not appropriate." This law is causing a lot of anguish to women already grappling with a difficult decision, as described in this article my wife found and posted on Facebook. I guarantee that is a heartbreaking story no matter what side of the argument you believe.
