I am a birth doula in Alabama, and I had a client who didn’t want cervical checks, who told the nurses and doctor she would request one if she felt she’d like that information but otherwise she would be refusing them. She had had 3 days of prodromal labor and couldn’t sleep. Finally she dropped off to sleep and was peacefully resting. The OB came in and started messing around with papers and whatnot, looking at her strip (she had initially refused monitoring too, but finally they bullied her into that) and next thing I knew, he had quickly grabbed her knee and shoved his hand into her vagina while she slept. In any other situation, if someone inserts their hand into your vagina when you have explicitly said you don’t want them to, it’s rape. Women need to be asking themselves, why do I allow my body to be violated just because I’m giving birth? Why do I believe the lie that having my rights stripped away is the same as giving a gift of safety to my baby?
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