Posted on 03/20/2008 1:15:04 PM PDT by SmithL
Give birth, get a parking pass?
California lawmakers are considering granting special parking privileges to women in the final three months of pregnancy and the first two months after birth.
The legislation would apply to more than a half-million women who give birth every year in California.
Assemblyman Chuck DeVore's bill would qualify pregnant women for "temporarily disabled" parking placards from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
"Let's be reasonable here: There are challenges, physical challenges, that arise as a natural part of life," DeVore said of pregnancy.
The Irvine Republican said it makes little sense to force a pregnant woman who has trouble getting out of her car, and might have a toddler in tow, to park in the outer reaches of a parking lot.
"It certainly makes you realize that for that very short period of time in their pregnancy, they are certainly by any practical definition (impaired)," he said.
DeVore is wading into a thicket abandoned four years ago by a colleague, then-Assemblyman Tony Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, who proposed similar legislation, then shelved it amid a hail of controversy.
Opponents of the new proposal, Assembly Bill 1940, say pregnant women should be exercising as much as possible and that the legislation could reduce parking for motorists with more serious disabilities.
"We really want pregnant women to be active, to be moving, to be walking," said Shannon Smith-Crowley of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' California chapter, which opposes AB 1940.
A woman with complications from pregnancy that severely impair walking, or cause other serious health problems, can qualify for a temporary parking placard under existing law, she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Wouldn’t our grandmothers be amused — the ones who worked the fields with their husbands?
another “good grief”. that’s twice in one day
... and both out of california too! sheesh!
Many pioneer women who were pregnant walked over half a continent to get to their new home. Women today are even healthier and stronger by comparison. You would think they could walk 20 feet.
I don’t know if they still have this, but the Toys R Us where I live has special parking for expectant moms. But I always wondered, what about the preggies who were in the early stages and weren’t showing? I can only imagine the dirty looks that they would probably get.
The handicapped spaces would then go to the "Spenders of the month".
The Westfield Mall here in Palm Desert, CA has set aside spaces for expectant mothers. They also set aside full sized spaces for motorcycles. Now, this is a center which frequently has a shortage of parking spaces on the front side of the center. Told my wife, if the preggers space was the only one open, I would take it.
Next we will see spaces for senior citizens. Hey, that is me next month. Sounds like a great idea.
I have seen these. I park in them anyway, as my taxes pay for their social security and Medicare.
If they're going to do this,they should at least extend the courtesy to men recovering from their vasectomies.
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