Radical Doula

There was quite a bit of noise last week around this article written for Slateby William Saletan about his opinion on ultrasounds and abortions. Many awesome bloggers have already responded to it, so I’ll just link you to their own great opinions. They’ve said it all.

A Bird and a Bottle, Feministe, Feministing, Echnide, Lawyers, Guns and Money

One thing that is interesting to add is that ultrasounds have not only changed our opinions about abortion, but also about childbirth. Birth advocates understand that fetal monitoring and other technologies that serve to monitor the fetus independent of the mother can also be blamed for a lot of unnecessary interventions during childbirth. Another piece of proof that technologies that serve to isolate the fetus from the mother–serve also to limit her choices around pregnancy and childbirth.

There is a growing field of natal surgeons and specialists who focus entirely on the unborn fetus, even doing extremely experimental and dangerous surgeries in the womb. I’ve been told they have scary brochures for their practices where the fetus is depicted (usually by ultrasound) completely absent from the mother’s body. As if children are all of a sudden gestated in space. Creepy.