Against Abortion? Don’t Have One.
Seventy-seven percent of anti-abortion leaders are men. One hundred percent of them will never get pregnant. Everybody seems to be a doctor these days when it comes to abortion. It is one of the most controversial topics to debate. Instead of it being an individual decision, abortion is a target of judgment and criticism. The U.S. has become divided between people who are “pro-choice” and those who are “pro-life.” Some believe that the individual who will have to endure the procedure is the one who has a say, while others believe that abortion is an act of murder and the fetus’ life must be saved. Religious leaders, politicians, doctors, and everyone in between are so caught up in abortion and are debating whether or not it should be legal. Abortion has gained the largest amount of media attention due to a new law recently enacted in Texas.
Texas now has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. On September 1, 2021, the state’s legislature enacted a new abortion restriction, known as Senate Bill 8. Roe V. Wade. It was a law previously considered to be a constitutional right to procedure and declared abortion illegal only after the 24th week of pregnancy. However, the new law states that abortion is illegal after the 6th week of pregnancy, as soon as fetal cardiac activity is detectable. There are many problems with this law. First, many people do not even know they are pregnant until after the 6th week. This limits the ability to provide abortion care and forces women to make the decision in a short amount of time that can be viewed as antithetical to ethical care. In addition, the law allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone else who helps someone obtain an abortion. This includes giving someone a ride or providing financial assistance. The law makes no exceptions for cases involving rape or incest, where the pregnancy was not wanted to begin with. It does permit abortions for health reasons, however, this is only if the pregnancy could endanger a person’s life which is an extremity among cases. In addition, it allows individuals to bring civil lawsuits against abortion providers. Those who successfully win the lawsuit could obtain up to ten thousand dollars. To make it easier for lawsuits to occur, a group called Texas Right to Life has a website where users can submit anonymous tips about anyone giving or obtaining illegal abortions. Some are in favor of this law as it will be harder for federal courts to change it. If the federal courts allow this law to stand, other conservative states will follow suit and pass similar laws.
While this law does not affect the whole of society, it causes damage to social structures and the economy. There are seven million childbearing age people in Texas, eighty-five percent of patients seeking abortion are at least six weeks pregnant, and about seventy percent of abortions in Texas were for people of color. While abortions are still possible under the new law, obtaining one is full of complexities. If a person is past the 6-week mark, they will have to travel to another state where it is legal. This law denies access to abortions to teenagers, low-income people, and people of color who are most unlikely to have access to resources that help them travel. As a society, we are isolating half of the population by creating unnecessary obstacles. We are not a strong nation, but a broken and divided one.
Abortion has become a fight for women’s rights and against anti-women behavior. People justify sexism and prejudices against women by using religion as a tool, stating that abortion is not what God wanted and is against the Bible. However, it really comes down to people disliking and even hating women. If the roles were reversed, people would have less of a problem with men getting abortions. They might even be normalized due to living in a patriarchal society where men’s actions are justified left and right. While many are taking steps to fight against this law and to make society a more equal place to live, there is a long road ahead. There might never be a time where women are considered equal and cease to fight for their right to body autonomy and health care.
Sources
McCamon, Sarah. “What The Texas Abortion Ban Does — And What It Means For Other States.” NPR, September 1, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1033202132/texas-abortion-ban-what-happens-next
Planned Parenthood. “Texas Abortion Laws.” Planned Parenthood, 2021. https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-center-for-choice/texas-abortion-laws
Rabin, Roni. “Answers to Questions About the Texas Abortion Law.” New York Times, September 1, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/health/texas-abortion-law-facts.html