Whether or not you believe abortion is right of wrong is irrelevant to the fact that US law is not supposed to be based on opinion-or religion. Recent legislation which has passed and is being presented in many states directly reduce the rights of women. Whether you agree with abortion or not, the more rights you allow to be removed from others, the weaker you make the stand to protect your own. As a mother, I hope to preserve as many rights as possible for my children in the future.
Roe v. Wade: The current supreme court ruling on abortion:
In 1973 the Supreme Court made a ruling in “Roe v. Wade” which legalized abortion in the United States with stipulations to be placed by each state to some degree. The law specifies that states may not regulate abortions in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, may regulate but not ban abortions in the second trimester being weeks 13 through 26, and may ban third trimester abortions that occur after the 26th week. Abortion itself has always been a hotly debated topic intertwining ethical, moral, and religious considerations for most, however, in the United States where the first amendment of the United States forbids the mingling of religion and government, none of the above should apply.Sadly, legislators seem to have forgotten the first amendment as they continue to present, and in some cases pass, legislation motivated by such concepts that directly remove the rights of women.
The Protect Life Act
One such ruling, H.R. 358, also known as the “Protect Life Act,” which passed in October of 2011, allowed hospitals that received government funding to refuse to perform abortions, or even refuse to stabilize and transport a woman who would die if she does not receive and abortion. In essence, this bill allowed hospitals to condemn women to death rather than perform an abortion. To further cripple the abortion rights of low-income Americans, this same bill also prohibits insurance companies who receive federal funding from offering abortion coverage. This leaves only women who can afford to pay for abortion without insurance or pay high insurance premiums, and can find a hospital willing to do so, able to exercise their right to choose.
The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act
The Protect Life act paved the way for another substantial blow to the rights of women. The “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” has now passed into law in several states including Georgia, Nebraska, Alabama, Kansas, and Idaho, and is being introduced in several other states currently. The act was supported by legislators clearly thinking without bias considering only the law, such as Terry England, a Georgia representative who compared women to chickens, hogs and cows who often give birth to dead spawn to support the bill. In his stirring speech about Old McDonald, England also quoted the bible itself in opposition to abortion. The act bans abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy unless the health of the mother is in direct danger-even if the baby is already dead. Any physician who breaks this law, or fails to demonstrate that he or she did not with extensive documentation of each abortion, can face up to 10 years in prison.
The Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Act
As if limiting access and forcing women to possibly carry dead children within them for un unknown length of time was an insufficient attack on women, a third act, known as the “Pre-abortion Ultrasound Act” has now passed in Virginia along with Alabama, and is being proposed in several other states. The act requires any woman wishing to have an abortion-whether it be as a result of rape or incest even-to have an ultrasound and hear her the fetus’s heart beat. To pass in Virginia, at least, the bill had to allow those who were raped or victims of incest to have external ultrasounds rather than the far more painful and invasive vaginal version. The aim of the bill is to pressure women out of abortions by putting them face to screen with what they are removing from their bodies. The act does not exclude those who want their baby, but can’t continue their pregnancy due to the health of the fetus or their own. They must now see firsthand what they are losing.
These are only three of the most current actions being taken to revoke the right a woman has to choose whether or not she wants to have a child. I can’t tell you to stand against such dangerous legislation, but I hope you read the bills on the issue presented in your state without judgement clouded by opinion or religious beliefs, and rather only see the righteousness of the law in regards to your right to choose.
You may also enjoy:
Abortion: The Real Pro Life
How Soon After An Abortion Can you Get Pregnant Again?
Planned Parenthood Almost Loses Funding in Anti-Abortion War
