If You Live In Indiana, I Am Truly Sorry

What in the fuck is wrong with people Indiana Republicans?

Have they solved world hunger, cured cancer, won the war on drugs, balanced the budget, eliminated all war and strife and ended crime as we know it?  Has ART really become the most serious threat to truth, justice, and the American way?

Oh yeah, and who the fuck do these assholes think they are?

"According to a draft of the recommended change in state law, every
woman in Indiana seeking to become a mother through assisted
reproduction therapy such as in vitro fertilization, sperm donation,
and egg donation, must first file for a "petition for parentage" in
their local county probate court." (Laura McPhee)

So, because I am not as fertile as a crack whore, if I live in Indiana, I have to petition the government to allow me to become a parent?  I keep waiting to see some sort of 'April Fool's' tag attached to this, but I really don't think they're kidding.

What do you think?

(a) Before intended parents may commence assisted reproduction, the intended parents shall obtain an assessment from a licensed child placing agency in the intended parents' state of residence.

(b) The assessment must follow the normal practice for assessments in a domestic infant adoption procedure and must include the following information:

(1) The intended parents' purpose for the assisted reproduction.

(2) The fertility history of the intended parents, including the pregnancy history and response to pregnancy losses of the woman.

(3) An acknowledgment by the intended parents that the child may not be the biological child of at least one (1) of the intended parents depending on the type of artificial reproduction procedure used.

(4) A list of the intended parents' family and friend support system.

(5) A plan for sharing any known genetic information with the child.

(6) Personal information about each intended parent, including the following:

(A) Family of origin.

(B) Values.

(C) Relationships.

(D) Education.

(E) Employment and income.

(F) Hobbies and talents.

(G) Physical description, including the general health of the individual.

(H) Birth verification.

(I) Personality description, including the strengths and weaknesses of each intended parent.

Look, I don't live in Indiana, and after reading this, I think I may have permanantly lost the urge to ever set foot in the state, but this isn't just about Indiana.  If they're trying to pass these laws (sorry, pdf file, also sorry, creepy beyond reason)  in Indiana, whose state is next?  Yours?  Mine?  If these laws pass, you know as well as I do that they'll just white out 'Indiana' and scribble 'Your State' in its place.

Don't let them do this. 

If this bothers you, tell them.

Then tell a friend.

Comments

[Jenny]

Damn straight. That is, just, well, INSANE! I would pick out the scariest bits, but you've highlighted them pretty well.

The more I think about it, the crosser I get. I'm comforting myself with the thought that this must be some crackpot, ill-supported scheme, and I'm sure it won't get passed. But I still want to go and scream in the face of whoever drafted this, until I become embarrassigly spittle-y.

Thank Gawd I live in the UK.

[Jenny]

I told these people by the way:
http://www.thisisnotover.com/

[fisher queen]

Why don't they make the crack mothers go through this?????? Why don't they make the Sc*tt P*t*ersons of the world go through this????? UNF*CKINGBELIEVABLE! I hope it is some crackpot bill that won't ever get passed. Indiana sucks.

[Julie]

Basically, they want anyone going through ART to go through the same process as adoption. It's just stupid if you ask me (not for adoption - for ART).

[J]

Jenny, Barren Mare wrote a while back about similar measures both in place and under consideration in the UK -- measures that require doctors and bureaucrats to evaluate parental fitness before allowing IVF. This scourge is everywhere.

This jackbooted SHIT is also intended to be used to prevent gay and single people from using ART. Thanks for posting this, Akeeyu.

[pixi]

After reading the Laura McPhee article, I'm sensing that this legislation is a nasty and underhanded way to try to prevent unmarried women and gay people from becoming parents. McPhee says that the law would require marriage as a condition for reproduction and CRIMINALIZE "unauthorized reproduction." That means no lesbian couples, no surrogates for for gay couples, and no unmarried women. They are trying to legislate morality, and it is wrong. Not to mention, it adds a new level of crap and insult to people who need assitance to become parents.

[Debe]

This is unbelievable

[Wavery]

Totally horrified. Thanks for bringing this up, off in a huff.

[jen/Chew]

"unauthorized reproduction" WHAT THE FUCK????

I'm sorry, but when are the people of this country gonna stop being blinded by this "YEE HAW" national policy charade and SEE THE TRUTH: THAT OUR RIGHTS ARE BEING TAKEN AWAY BIT BY FUCKING BIT BY THE REPUBLICAN "MORALISTS" IN ORDER TO PASS THEIR OWN AGENDA. This is unreal. I only hope that it doesn't pass. Thanks for sharing.

GRRRRR. Flame on, sister.

[deannavs]

OH.MY.GOD. That is DEPLORABLE.

I grew up in Indiana, but moved to Maryland after I finished college. I've been so, so pleased to find that MD has such wonderful IF insurance mandates compared to other states like IN, where procedures like IVF are seen by the majority as ethically flawed. I knew even as a little girl that I could never live in that state because people act like EVERYTHING is ethically flawed. (case in point: my hometown of Winona Lake was "the book burning capitol of the world" in the '70s.) I'm so glad I escaped when I did, but I really feel terrible for infertile women living there under such vindictive legislature.

[Roxanne]

WOW! I cannot even believe that. That's a joke, right? That is really scary.

[Lisa]

I'm OUTRAGED. I'm a Canadian, so I'll be watching to make sure similar things aren't proposed in my country.

[erin]

Yes. These legislators deserved to be Blogged.

The other part of this legislation that should be noted is the fact that it requires potential parents to have a homestudy before a child is EVEN CONCEIVED, thus raising the status of a not-yet-existing embyro to the same status as an adoptable child.

Scary, no?

[thalia]

despite the comment above, the HFEA's (UK) concerns are actually much milder than these. They wouldn't go anywhere close to teh adoption home study level. Although currently it is not possible to pay egg donors so the waiting lists can be up to 5 years.

Anyway, we all know that the US is a bit of a special case on this stuff. I'm horrified, but don't feel there's much I can do. Do Indiana law makers care about what some chick in england thinks?

[Queenie]

Thalia--Do e-mail her, definitely. I don't know how it works in the UK, but here, politicans' offices count every piece of mail or e-mail they receive from anyone on a subject and use those letters to help them decide whether to support or oppose laws. They may not weight your opinion as heavily as someone who lives in Indiana, but it will still show that people know what Miller is doing and think it's awful. (Or you could e-mail her and tell a little lie that you are an American who just happens to be in the UK. I would forgive you.)

[B. Mare]

I'd agree with Thalia that HFEA regulations are much milder, but I think only because they know they can't get away with more- I get the sense sometimes they would LOVE to go down this road. But this goes beyond slippery slope- this is the avalanche mudslide straight to hell.

[Carrie]

Indiana...bringing us one step closer to living out The Handmaid's Tale.

[Shevon]

They want a list of the person's friends?? Scary.

And, um, how are you *supposed* to react to pregnancy loss? What's the wrong answer to that question? Because, if I were in that position, I would sure hate to have to answer that question.

This is unbelievable.

[Emily]

I agree with Jen, this is nothing more than a veiled attempt to get to the REAL meat of the agenda -- completely taking away reproductive rights. ART is just the beginning. When I was a kid, I used to think stories like a Brave New World were you know, just 'stories'...oh how scary when fiction becomes more and more truth.

[holly]

Yeah, this whole thing is really fucked. I thought it was bad in my state, where I didn't have any coverage at all.

[Jennifer]

Thank goodness, this bill has been dropped:
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/5063396/detail.html

[KH]

WTF is this crap? What's wrong with these people? I personally think that people who go through ART really want their children. Why hassle people who are already stressed by IF? Where's the crack whore parenting legislation?

[Jenny]

The bill's been dropped - good!

But also - Akeeyu linked on TINO!
http://www.thisisnotover.com/

[erinberry]

For Christ's sake, what is WRONG with these people???

[bushiseeeevil]

You know how many children in foster care in the ENTIRE COUNTRY were conceived "by means other than sexual intercourse"?! Well, neither do I, but after the last eight years dealing with the foster care system, I'd be willing to bet my...well, apparently my reproductive rights, that I wouldn't begin to need all of the fingers on ONE HAND to count them! "Gestational Certificate"?!?!! The fact that this was dropped in NO WAY changes the fact that the political atmosphere in this country has become so putrid, that an ELECTED 0FFICIAL thought she could spew this bile OUT LOUD and not be run out of town on a rail! This isn't even about Miller. This is about every other legislator there who didn't have the humanity in themselves to look her right in the eye, and tell her to knock it the f*** off!

[erin]

I don't know who Bushiseeeevil is, but I REALLY like her. A LOT.

[pixi]

Exactly, bushiseeeevil--the climate still exists. Don't think we've heard the last of this or this type of thing, either.

[Malnurtured Snay]

This is fascism, plain and simple.

[Fraulein N]

That little tidbit about "VALUES" just about makes my head explode. This is America, right?

[Soper]

You know, I really love the hobbies clause. Because, you know, your parenting ability really depends on the number and variety of hobbies that you engage in...

[Heidi]

Unbelievable. I hate people. (Not you.)

[Foxy]

I live in indiana and I had never heard about the existence of this might be law until tonight. I am outraged that people would even consider a law like this! I agree with Wavery our rights are being taken bit by bit and we are not even noticing or paying attention. I wish more people would do something about it. I never liked Indiana and I plan on moving when I graduated from college. Indiana is filled with ignorant, byist, sexist, racist and all around conservative pigs and it makes me angry and sick! I hope this law hasn't been passed and I hope it never will be.

[wwp]

As a Hoosier, citizen of Indiana, I am somewhat perpelexed by the outrage at Indiana because of a bill that was filed for consideration, but not subsequently passed.

The legislative process every year allows and encourages citizens to make their voices heard to make public policy. Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, homosexual, heterosexual, young, old, rich, poor,etc.---all are given a forum to convince others that their ideas are good public policy. It is this public discourse that blends, moderates and facilitates the production of laws.

Unlike the name calling and the uninformed knee jerk conversation of the above discussion, the legislative process allows all parties to express their views in a public, moderated and educational forum. Name calling seldom sways either policy makers or the audience.

Committee meetings are posted and open to the public; I would invite all interested parties to attend and participate. You would be pleasantly surprised by the process.

[Frogg]

I spent the better...sorry, the WORST part of my life in that shithole of a state. Now, I agree that MOST people in that place should be screened before becoming parents, but the civil liberties violations are a bit much. However, that's what they do to ALL responsible people in Indiana. If you have half a brain, they see you as a threat to be disposed of, while the crackwhores and retards are afforded whatever rights they seem to think they deserve. I hope the next president decides to wall off that half-baked, dumb-ass-filled, backwards-ass state and doesn't let anyone there escape to pollute the rest of the world! FUCK INDIANA, IN THE ASS WITH SAND-FILLED VASELINE!!!

[Frogg]

Oh, and Foxy? Since when have the poor, or underprivileged, or even the political minority EVER, EVER, EVER had a voice in politics? Really? You think that legislation has a GOD-DAMNED THING to do with what the people think? You must be a fucking politician, because no one that uses that lovely thing situated between their ears would even consider that a legislator would listen to them. Now I know that I'm a little late in posting here, but I just was looking on the internet what people thought of my former ... yuck ... home ... state thought about that shithole. You must be from Indiana. Only a hoser...sorry, hoosier would be that stupid.