By Sterling Martinez
Women everywhere are upset, and I feel they have the right to be.
The state of Texas, along with other conservative states such as North Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama, and four other states are trying to pass laws that make it more difficult for women to have abortions, and are in the process, forcing one-third of abortion clinics to close their doors. Texas now requires the doctor performing the abortion have admitting privileges to practice medicine at a nearby hospital. The laws in Texas regarding abortion also include five additional requirements that must be met before a woman can obtain an abortion. The requirements became effective Oct. 1st. and are: 1) a woman must receive state-directed counseling that provides information meant to discourage her decision; 2) In the case of a minor seeking an abortion the minor must provide parental consent; 3) The state will only fund abortions in the case of life endangerment of the mother and/or fetus, rape or incest; 4) the law states that a woman must undergo an ultrasound before getting an abortion, and the provider must show and describe the image of the baby to the woman; and 5) if the woman lives within a 100 miles of an abortion provider, she must obtain the ultrasound at least 24 hours before the abortion takes place.
I believe that a woman wanting an abortion should be the only one who decides on what happens in her uterus, body and life. Wheat Ridge High School junior Ana Behler stated “The government should run the state not run the women.” Being a proud and open homosexual male, I am aware that these laws do not affect me. However, not only do I base my opinions on who I am, I also base them on where I come from.
Despite all the access to free birth control and information on sexual intercourse and reproduction provided by places like the Jefferson County Health Department and Planned Parenthood in the United States, some women still have limited access to birth control, something that many informed men and women take for granted and neglect to use.
Practicing safe sex and being responsible is important, but sometimes things happen and women end up pregnant; every woman has a different story. My mother wasn’t ready to have me or my two older sisters, but she did and I’m living proof that sometimes unplanned babies live good lives On the flip side, women who place their baby up for adoption are taking a risk and can’t guarantee their child a better life.
Rebecca Sunshine with Planned Parenthood’s marketing and communication department stressed the importance of considering what an abortion is really about. “It is important to remember that abortion is a deeply personal decision and women have to use family, faith, and medical provider to make. The reality is when women have the ability to plan their pregnancy the woman can be healthier and so can the baby.”
With 80,000 abortions performed in Texas annually, it is impossible to make the right political decision that will potentially affect 240,000 people in Texas alone. This is including the women seeking an abortion, the men that got them pregnant and the potential children. Abortion is a very serious procedure that will affect women for the rest of their lives, but giving birth, raising a child and even having sexual intercourse are situations that have long lasting effects on people’s personal lives and no law should determine how people handle their family planning.
The state legislature’s decision in Texas is using this law to do something no one can, make a deeply personal decision for all women. Every woman’s story is unique and ultimately it will affect her and the child most of all.
Not only is the law unjust, it makes no sense, of the 80,000 women that have obtained abortions each year in Texas only .5% of them each year experienced medical complications. There is a limited need for the acting doctor to have admitting privileges at a hospital 30 miles away. Receiving admitting privileges at a hospital is hard to do because of the fact that hospitals in today’s society will only allow doctors privileges if they generate enough revenue for the hospital. With the actually slight chance a woman should have complications she would need a hospital that is closer than 30 miles away. Obviously the whole situation is too political.
In addition to the law being unfair it is also very contradictory. When women have babies that they cannot support financially, this increases not only the number of people on public health care but also government-funded financial support such as food stamps. As many know both public health care, financial support, and abortions are issues that conservative politicians are very dead set against on funding or even considering. They are trying to get their say in ways that are not even reasonable.
When it comes to the issue of abortion, we all need to step back and look at every angle, as I have tried to do. Through this process I discovered so many statistics and so many ways to look at abortion and women’s right to choose and yet I still know I have not seen every angle of abortion, it’s impossible. Be it a woman seeking an abortion because she had a “one night stand,” she was raped, she has an abusive husband, she can’t take care of the child properly, or because she’s just not ready, all women have a reason. At the end of the day we don’t know every one of the 80,000 women having an abortion in Texas.
To base what a woman can do with her life and body on a law that is completely based on some politicians’ religious beliefs is wrong. If politicians are not going to help a woman with the pain and difficulty of her decision, then they should not tell her what she can and cannot do until they know everyone’s story they all just need to stay out of it and let these women live their personal lives in private.
