Stephanie,

yes. in order to get an abortion, women must have the ultrasound whether they want one or not.

I did a little bit of looking around. That law seems...cruel, regardless of the type of ultrasound.

I get that pregnant women get prodded and poked, but do they need to have this additional physical prodding against their will as well?

But that's not why it's a bad law. It's a bad law because it's legislating against reproductive rights. If it were rewritten to specify only external ultrasound, or just a fetal heart monitor, it would still be just as bad.

(The law doesn't, AFAIK, specifically mandate a transvaginal US, but since that's the standard of care in the first trimester, that's what the vast majority of women will get when they go in to ask for an abortion. And you'll pretty much get one whether it's legally mandated or not, because you can't have an abortion unless the doctor knows a little bit about your pregnancy first. So arguing that this is a bad law because the dildocam is invasive is just completely missing the point.)

But that's not why it's a bad law. It's a bad law because it's legislating against reproductive rights.

Yes.

Hey, I am in complete agreement with Jessica! I don't even have to form my own coherent thought. I love it when that happens.

(Yes, at first, I misunderstood the precise meaning of high. I'm good now, though.)

In your defense, I wasn't very clear.

From way back:

Maria, other DC folks, and anyone else interested... link to my DC show in in my profile.

aurelia, are you in the show? Ed Gero is fabulous, such a sweetie (he's done shows as my theatre). Also, if you see a fabulous black guy who does hair and make up for the Finchandler, that's my friend Vincent.

amych, condolences. Two funerals is a lot for anyone's emotional reserves, especially so close together.

Poor mac. He is so lucky to have a mom like you, msbelle.

tommyrot, man, you went away. Don't do that.

BBC Sherlock Holmes are among the long list of characters that other people have informed me I in some respects resemble

I feel like I resemble SH in many ways, but my BFF's daughter has informed me that I am in fact Mycroft. Now I don't know if I'm really smart, or a lazy conniving amoral control freak.

I think I need to find new health professionals. My psychiatrist is good only in that he gives me Valium without giving me any crap on the side, and he didn't argue when I said I wanted to go off Welbutrin. He's bad in that by the next appointment he'd forgotten I was going off Welbutrin, and I have become suspicious that he's not actually paying attention to me. Also, his front desk never answers the phone, ever. It goes straight to voice mail, and half the time they don't call back. But all I'm taking now are Deplin and Valium, and much less of that last than I used to, so I feel very reluctant to interview new doctors and tell them my whole frickin' story all over again.

And my dermatologist, I'm suspecting, is in practice to sell expensive laser procedures. I've seen her several times, and she's never checked my skin for moles or, I dunno, anything. She's there to prescribe me Retin-A, and that's about all she does for me. The expensive procedure I submitted to did nothing at all.

I also need a GP, which I've never had, but with the change in my insurance this year, I need one. How does one pick a GP?

Dildocam made me cry. But that is not why that law is bad. What Jessica Said.

I have the hiccups because I ate too much. In my defense, dinner was lobster fettuccine with fennel cream sauce, pancetta, mushroom, and asparagus.

lobster fettuccine with fennel cream sauce

NOMS