Abortion and Autonomy
It is time to talk about something super hot button going on in our country lately: abortion. I realize this is a super sensitive topic that many people have views and opinions on, and I am doing nothing more than sharing my perspective. When it comes to facts of the actual laws, I will be linking to specific articles and citing all sources used. I am more than happy to have a conversation in the comments or privately, but I do ask that since I will be handling this piece as respectfully as possible, you address me with the same respect. All rude or disrespectful comments will be deleted and not addressed. I also ask that you read this post in its entirety before commenting. With all of that said, here we go.
Unless you do not use the internet or watch tv, everyone knows about the recent laws that have been passed in Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, and Mississippi and the extremely restrictive measures they have taken on abortion. The main issues that have people worried are as follows; no abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy, no abortion in the case of rape or incest, and anyone receiving an abortion past 6 weeks will be charged and potentially sentenced to life in prison. A couple states have even thrown around the idea of the death penalty as a punishment for receiving the abortion. This is also in the midst of the bill outlining how any woman who miscarries will be subjected to an investigation to make sure it was a true miscarriage and not an abortion cover up. So far this is only in Georgia and Alabama, and I have not found anything to substantiate this miscarriage law in any of the other states (The Washington Post, The Cut).
This is problematic for several reasons. The first one being that most women won’t know they are pregnant until after 6 weeks have passed. Most women have irregular periods, and it’s normal to be late. At this point, it would just look like a weird month in which her period was late and by the time she would be wondering if this is a pregnancy, it would be too late to acquire an abortion if she should so choose. While rape is the main thing people want to talk about when it comes to abortion and is cited as the main reason women get them, that is not a fact. While the law also criminalizes the desire for an abortion after rape and incest, this is not the only reason women want abortions. Perhaps they are too young, broke, or simply in the wrong space to bring a child into this world. Maybe they are incapable of doing it on their own since when they told their partner who got them pregnant, he bailed. There are a million reasons why a woman would to terminate her pregnancy and it is no ones business but her, her doctor, and potentially her partner. The government should not be involved in anyway. The argument of women just simply abstaining from sex is also not a valid or realistic argument, especially since no one is suggesting men quit having sex as well.
When it comes to the rape/incest portion, it is still extremely problematic. In states like Ohio and Arkansas who also have very strict laws regarding abortion, it is still provided in cases of rape or incest (The Washington Post). The Georgia law does not allow those exceptions and neither does Alabama. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning to find that yet another state has imposed a strict abortion law after 8 weeks, even in the case of rape or incest. The only exception for all of these laws is in the case of maternal death, which of course should always be an option.
Now let's talk about the portion of the law in Georgia that is equally as troubling and invasive: the miscarriage investigation. In Georgia, if a woman has a miscarriage she will now have to undergo an investigation to determine if it was a true miscarriage or if she is saying that in an attempt to cover up an abortion. I have not found that this is the case in any of the other bills being passed, but if it is please let me know. In Georgia, if the woman is found to have any suspicions that this was not a miscarriage, she will then be subjected to a trial in which a jury will have to go through the evidence of whether or not it was a true miscarriage. As if that experience isn’t traumatic enough, now this woman has to be questioned(CBS).
No one wants to get an abortion. Women do not go into the abortions and that decision lightly and it is not a fun, easy, or mellow situation. Government officials like to act like women go and do this for fun and as a means for birth control which is certainly not true, especially when getting an abortion now is already difficult, even in states following Roe v Wade. They are expensive, not covered by insurance, not offered in every city, and are then demonized in the social sphere should anyone find out. There are a few other options that would severely cut down on abortions, maybe even end them unless in the case of rape/incest, or maternal death.
The first option would be to make healthcare and birth control more accessible. If women have access to better healthcare that won’t cost them an arm and a leg, and access to free birth control, accidental pregnancy would be extremely cut down. There is also an extreme lack of comprehensive sex education in this country, and many high schools that teach abstinence only sex education, which has been proven time and time again to not be a way to cut down on teen pregnancy rates. While yes it will take a lot of restructuring, money and time on the law makers part, if people in this country really want to lower abortion rates, then this is the way to do it. If we ban abortions like this, like we are right now in this country, all that is going to happen is we are are going to kill women who are seeking out back alley abortions, and we are going to end up with children in foster care who are severely disabled because of botched back alley abortions. The foster care system is also a disaster in this country, which makes it impossible for that to be a valid argument. However, that is a separate post entirely. Just know that foster care and adoption is not always a valid option in this country, especially when the child is disabled. There is also very few cases in which a child is born right away and adopted immediately. The children often go into foster care where the rate of adoption is between 29-32% (Adoption Network).
Another thing that will help is to keep abortion safe and legal for people who are raped or who are victims of incest. Still don’t like that as an option? Then it is time for the courts and for law makers to prosecute rapists in the severe way they deserve to be. Currently, the bills that have been passed will be prosecuting women and giving them longer sentences than the maximum sentence that can be given to rapists (The Washington Post). And that’s if the rapists even get a prison sentence. Please tell me how that makes any sense. If you really want to end abortion all together, give women better access health care and birth control, and actually send rapists to jail and send a message that this is not something people can get away with anymore. Whether people want to believe it or not, rape culture is a real thing and when this country does punish people for this heinous act, they just send the message that this is ok. You will not be punished if you rape someone. Just for reference, Alabama has said no to both of these ideas (CBS), which makes it clear that this is not simply about abortion and is simply about keeping women down. At the end of the day, this is a human rights issue, and this country is failing women miserably.
The bottom line is that this country will not end abortion by creating laws that endanger women and strip women of our rights to our own bodies. The way to end abortion is to give women access to birth control, health care, and to make the people who rape and commit incest to actually serve time in jail and not get off scot free. This country has to start believing women when we come forward and say we have been assaulted. This country has to stop asking women if we were drunk, if we were flirting, and what we were wearing. None of that matters when someone takes away the rights to your own body. This country has to act now and quit acting like women are something to play with, something they can toy with at their own whim.
Madey
Note: I use Georgia and Alabama as the main evidence in this post since there is the most information about these states and their bills. There are 8 states total that have passed bills like these.