Texas Abortion Ban: Let’s Talk About It

 I am sure that almost everyone has at least heard about Texas’ abortion ban by now. And in light of the Supreme Court reviewing the law today (Nov. 1), let’s talk about it. For those of you that don’t know, on September 1st, Texas commenced a law that prohibits abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, around the time a heartbeat is detectable. There are no exceptions for rape and incest. Let’s talk about why is this so fucked up.

As most people have mentioned, the majority of people who are able to become pregnant will not even notice they are pregnant in such a short time span of 6 weeks! In most cases that’s having your period be only 2 weeks late! The Texas law also indicates that a pregnant person seeking an abortion must get an ultrasound beforehand. They must also wait 24 hours after the ultrasound to get an abortion. This is because the state believes these people still need additional time to make this decision. The abortion must also be performed by the same doctor that performed the ultrasound. So basically in other words if you happen to notice your period is late the day it is supposed to come, you must make an appointment to have an ultrasound, wait 24 hours after that appointment to make another appointment with the same doctor to have an abortion. All in 2 weeks. If you have ever had to make an appointment for anything in your life, I think this goes without saying that this law makes it virtually impossible to get an abortion. 

No exceptions for rape or incest. Pro-lifers; do you truly believe that it is morally just to have a young girl who was raped by her father, brother, uncle, or literally any family member at all, give birth to that child? Do you truly believe that a disabled woman who has no concept of periods, pregnancy, and/or raising a child should birth a child from a product of rape? Do you truly believe that ANY person who gets raped and becomes pregnant as a result must carry a fetus to full term as a result of something that happened against their will? In what world is that fair to you? Pro-lifers; since you believe that everyone has a right to live, do you believe we should get rid of wars? Do you think we should have stricter gun control? Are you adopting or fostering children, you know, the 400,000 children in foster care? Do you think we should get rid of the death penalty? The list goes on. The point is, if you answered no to any of those questions, you aren’t actually pro-life. You are pro-controlling women and/or people’s bodies.

Texas decided to put their focus on abortion rather than so many other options such as state-funded programs to provide easier access to contraceptives and birth control, state-funded programs to encourage people to adopt/foster children, state-funded programs to support pregnant people who can’t afford to have children, etc. The focus here truly shows that the state wants to take away the rights of women and people with uteruses. Why don’t they pass a law that all men must have mandatory vasectomies instead? And when they decide to have children, he and his partner can go through a legal system to get approval for a reversal procedure. It’s a simple 15-minute procedure that requires no anesthesia. That way there would be absolutely no unwanted pregnancies. But wait… wouldn’t that be an infringement of their rights? They can’t require men to do something to their bodies that they may not want to have done? It’s their body and their choice… Just like they can’t require women to do something with their body that they don’t want to have don-… oh wait… never mind. 

The point is there are so many reasons why banning abortion is morally unjust. And at the end of the day, it truly does not matter what reason a person wants to have an abortion. It is and will always be an infringement of a person’s rights to control what they can and can not do with their own body.