Alabama’s Abortion Law

TW: rape

On Wednesday, May 15th, senators from Alabama — 22 old, white, males — voted against including an exception for incest or rape in the new abortion law. What this means is that it could make almost all abortions illegal, including charging physicians who perform the procedure, with a felony that could possibly land them up to 99 years in prison. There have also been about 3 states that have passed a six-week ban (that restricts abortion) which include Georgia, Mississippi, and Ohio.

There’s also been a new bill that has passed, called the heartbeat bill, in Ohio, in which would outlaw abortions once a heartbeat has been detected. In Snopes article, it claims that Ohio’s legislative bill “would severely limit access to certain contraceptives by restricting insurance companies from covering them”. Contraception pills are used to regulate periods, help with chronic acne, balance out hormones, and a few other useful things besides being used to not get pregnant. Birth control is basic health care right.

The Cut states, “Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed a draconian bill into law that outlaws all abortions after six weeks.” These are also, like the Ohio bill, called “heartbeat bills.” Because of all this, there was lots of backlash and disagreement with what had happened because many want to speak their minds on the situation because it’s going to have a very large impact on people’s reproductive rights, which is important. The Georgia abortion law has even caused people to create a “sex strike,” in protest of the new law. This stirred up some controversy where people either thought it was outrageous and unnecessary or they believed it was needed in order to prove a point.

According to politifact.com, “About two-thirds of women seeking abortions usually come in around eight weeks since their last menstrual period, per the most recent Guttmacher statistics.” Six weeks isn’t enough time for someone to realize that they’re pregnant because it usually takes at least one missing period for them to know that they could possibly be pregnant. But, even then, the symptoms of pregnancy aren’t very apparent either. This affects people who can get pregnant because their ownership over their bodies is being controlled by not being allowed the choice to get an abortion, unless under extreme circumstances. Which is oftentimes not very likely. The consequence of this would be the increased percentage of unsafe abortions done by nonprofessionals because of the lack of access available for providing abortions. Not to forget the number of injuries and deaths of women that come along with it because of how unsafe and unsanitary the attempt was. I am not in support for these laws because as a young woman, I believe I should be allowed to have a choice in what I decide to do, or not do. People’s reproductive rights should not be on such thin ice when it comes to having a choice in what I want for my body.

There was even an 11 year old girl who was raped and did not have the choice of having a safe termination and is ending up to have to give birth. Her hips aren’t even wide enough to give birth properly! And she’s most likely going to end up passing away due to the agonizing pain of the birth and because of the under developed state she’s in. She should have the right to be able to choose what she does with her body.

It shouldn’t be necessary to tell people your business on why you got an abortion. It’s already hard as it is, making that decision, and only to get judged and ridiculed upon it makes it even harder. It’s not a simple decision. And it’s not selfish of the person who got an abortion. They made a decision for the better and thought about the circumstances they were in, and put thought into whether or not bringing a child into this world would be a good decision. They aren’t always able to provide what they need for the fetus once it would be born for financial reasons, personal reasons, sheltering options, etc. And it’s not as simple as just putting it up for adoption.

There are hundreds of thousands of unadopted children in the foster system who do not get adopted every year and just wait there for a majority of their lives. So how is it possible that there’s a “shortage” for newborns for infertile couples who wish to adopt? There isn’t. What they really mean to say is that there aren’t enough healthy white babies. Because there are disabled, babies of color, who just simply get looked over and moved to the side. Women don’t owe people their babies. No one should owe anyone their babies.

They aren’t trying to save potential human life, they’re controlling the lives and rights of women, people who are transgender, people who are non-binary and so much more. And although you may decide to never have a termination yourself, whether it be for religious reasons, political reasons, morality, etc, that shouldn’t mean taking away others abortion rights. Let people have a choice.