Abortions have always been a thing, and if people don’t go to a doctor, they will try to figure it out for themselves. This law isn’t stopping abortions but is making them more deadly.
Last week, Texas essentially declared war on people with uteruses by proposing one of the strictest abortion bans yet. Texas politicians have officially placed laws that could charge women’s health doctors and those seeking abortions with homicide.
Abortions are now banned after six weeks, despite many pregnant individuals not even knowing they are pregnant by that time. Six weeks is only two weeks after a menstrual cycle. The state of Texas even set up a “snitch system” for people to rat on those getting or helping facilitate abortions.
The justifications for this ban are absurd, the first of which is the timeline and “science” behind it. The six-week embryo timeline exists because that’s when Republican lawmakers claim an ultrasound can detect a heartbeat, which is a misled notion of life. Lawmakers chose that narrative for a reason: to guilt the populace to not get abortions.
Second, I am so sick and tired of seeing Christianity as a justification for banning abortions to this constraint. Linking Christianity to law creates biased laws in a country that is not supposed to discriminate. What the heck happened between the separation of church and state? I know that if Muslim lawmakers tried to enforce any policies about people’s health, they would immediately be met with that same argument from white Christians.
Not to say that I like President Biden, but his beliefs can be used as an example. He is personally against abortion because he is Catholic but recognizes that not everyone is Catholic and can practice a different way of life. If abortions are not in your belief, then simply don’t get one.
Third, justifying adoption or foster care as an alternative is ignorant to the way those systems play out. According to Psychology Today, at least one out of every four kids put into the foster system experiences abuse. The foster system is drastically underfunded, and if you are going to pose it as an option, you’d better advocate for better treatment for the kids.
However, that’s not the case, because these lawmakers only care about the fetus in the womb. Once that fetus becomes a child, the state couldn’t care less about their life. Asking people to put their bodies through nine months of pregnancy is absurd when they know the state doesn’t care about the baby after the pregnancy.
Fourth, calling yourself pro-life is meaningless when you don’t support immigrants coming to the U.S., fund programs to feed those in need or support the death penalty. The term “pro-life” has become meaningless because those people stop caring about “life” the moment a baby enters the world. The fact that incest and rape survivors will still be forced to have a child proves these lawmakers don’t care about people, only male dominance.
The ban even puts those who drive women to abortions at risk, completely isolating those with unwanted pregnancies. People have already started trying to give themselves abortions with hangers and other at home methods in the state of Texas, showing immediate devastation after this ban was passed.
Abortions have always been a thing, and if people don’t go to a doctor, they will try to figure it out for themselves. This law isn’t stopping abortions but is making them more deadly. People will turn to resources outside of the medical field, which leads to far more life-threatening outcomes. This is yet another reason that support of this ban is anything but pro-life.
As a person with a vagina, I am very frustrated. I am so tired of the state having a say in how I handle my sexual health. The fact that only those with vaginas are at-risk shows the blatant need to control our bodies.
It takes two to make a baby, and this law targets only half of the equation to maintain a cis-male centered society. Not to say I would be happy if they were punished, too, but I’m using this argument to show that this law is meant to target a specific half of our population.
To health rights advocates: Keep doing what you’re doing. Just remember as we fight the patriarchy, it isn’t just women who need abortions. Trans and non-binary people need abortions, too, and we’re fighting just as hard to maintain our rights. So please don’t forget about us in this conversation. Second, as we have Afghan refugees coming, we need to stop the analogy of using the Taliban. We should not co-opt others’ trauma to prove a point.
I am terrified for the future of my health. Other GOP-led states are considering similar bans, and it is utterly frustrating to know that people who know nothing about sexual healthcare are the ones regulating abortion.
If my 78-year-old Punjabi grandmother can understand how these bans are going to produce chaos, then I feel my explanation is done.
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