On Thursday September 15th, the Virginia Board of Health passed new regulations for the twenty-three abortion clinics within the state. The new measures impose regulations on the clinic itself, including rules about ceiling height, hallway width, size of operating tables, and number of parking spaces. Proponents of the plan deem it necessary for safety reasons, but the majority of abortions performed in Virginia clinics occur during the first trimester. First trimester abortions are extremely safe and rarely present complications...The Virginia regulations are the newest anti-abortion laws in a string of state-level legislation passed since the 2010 elections...Backed by the new Republican majorities in many state legislatures, restrictions on abortion are becoming increasing common. http://www.americavotes.org/node/1660
Tie the doors shut with red tape
It's a real red-letter day
victory for the red, white, and blue morality police
wipe the blood stains off their hands
Scarlet women put in their place
faces red with shame and fear
roaming back alleys after sunset
searching
Watch the blood flow
red and redder
Watch as it floods the streets
taints the sheets
Watch them die in
rivers of crimson
Red is the color of women's suffering
Red is the color of rage
Clay soil
under the nails of the men who
dig the graves
for the women
for the girls
who don't stop bleeding
red roses atop
their graves.
submitted for Thursday Think Tank, #68 Red at Poets United
