Boris Ignachkov Scared, desperate and hopeless. The Texas abortion law is not a fight between pro-life and pro-choice but a fight against pro-control.
What happened?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in May commencing on September 1st that at 6 weeks when a fetal “heartbeat” can be detected that an abortion cannot be had, even if the pregnancy arose from rape or incest.
However, at 6 weeks many women do not realise they are pregnant, and pregnancy counts from a women’s last menstrual cycle, meaning a woman could already be 4 weeks pregnant upon the date of their next “period”. More so, some women do not have enough Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) at 6 weeks to test if they are pregnant and that all depends on if they are testing!
The law has made this abortion law a civil violation, not a criminal violation, meaning any private citizen could report women merely thinking about having an abortion or those helping a woman to have one. The state is even offering $10,000 for those who report and win lawsuits against the “violators” (money from the “violators” pockets not the states to be correct).
What has the Supreme Court said?
The Supreme Court refused to block the new abortion law in Texas, which caused an uproar with the President.
President Biden said: “Complete strangers will now be empowered to inject themselves in the most private and personal health decisions faced by women… rather than use its supreme authority to ensure Justice could be fairly sought. The highest court of our land will allow millions of women in Texas in need of critical reproductive care to suffer…”
How will this affect other states?
Ultimately if federal courts allow this to stand, other conservative states will move to pass similar legislation.
Currently, the Supreme Court is hearing the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in Mississippi to limit abortions up to 15 weeks. If this case stands, it will effectively overturn Roe v. Wade, which protects the constitutional right to have an abortion up to 24 weeks, countrywide!
What are the consequences?
- THERE IS NO EXCEPTION MADE FOR RAPE OR INCEST! Read that again! This means that a father or abusive husband could rape their daughter or wife, report her, take her to court and make $10,000 from her, whilst she potentially gets a greater prison sentence than he does. (I’m sorry but… what!)
- Many women will try DIY methods or get illegal abortions which are extremely dangerous and can result in fatally or serious injury. Remember this ban won’t decrease abortion rates just decrease women’s access to safe abortions.
- CONSENT! Forcing women to stay pregnant without their consent, who do not want the babies, is wrong. As Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says: “Most of the men writing these anti-abortion bills don’t know the first thing about a women’s body outside of the things they want from it.”
- There’s nothing put in place to help these women care for unwanted babies (Kids are expensive!). Women in deprived communities who don’t have the financial stability to take care of children are going to suffer tremendously; as will these children.
The only thing I have to say is… if it’s not your uterus, it’s not your problem.