On September 1, 2021, Senate Bill 8 took effect in Texas banning abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy. SB 8 is now the strictest abortion law in all of America. This law completely disregards the constitutional right “Roe v. Wade” which was put in place in 1973 to provide the right for Americans to have access to safe and legal abortions. Roe V. Wade was a Supreme Court case that made abortion legal in every state in the US. Consequently, politicians who want to ban abortion are finding ways to create strict restrictions in individual states to make it nearly impossible to get an abortion. If Roe V. Wade were to be overturned, each state would be able to determine their own laws regarding abortion and can ban it if they wanted to. SB 8 has led to increased worry that Roe v. Wade is quickly on its way to being overturned, which would have to be done at the Supreme Court level. When Donald Trump got the chance to appoint three new Supreme Court justices, he selected candidates likely to vote to overturn Roe V. Wade. The current Supreme Court has a conservative majority, making it more likely that Roe v. Wade could be overturned and set a precedent for other states as well. Currently, 26 states do not have Roe v. Wade codified, dividing the country in half as to who would make abortion illegal if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned.
Over eighty-five percent of women in Texas who have sought out abortions have undergone the procedure after six weeks. The time period that allows for legal abortion in Texas is extremely limited, due to the fact that most women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks. Prior to this, women had access to abortion up until the second trimester in most states. In the event that a woman realizes she is pregnant before the six week mark, she still needs to attend two different appointments in order to access the procedure. These appointments include an initial ultrasound, followed by a second ultrasound as well as the procedure itself, making it incredibly difficult to get the needed care within such a narrow window of time. Given that it typically takes four weeks to miss a period, this leaves only two weeks for a woman to make a life changing-decision, and then arrange and attend both of these appointments.
All this talk about feminism gaining popularity, empowering women all across the globe, the advocacy of equality…it sounds great, right? Well, unsurprisingly enough, there are always the select few who don’t jump on board. The notion of antifeminism is becoming more prevalent than I would have ever thought possible. It is paradoxical for a woman to be antifeminist. It is voting Republican when you are for women’s rights, it is a person of color in the Ku Klux Klan, and it is a woman saying she does not value herself enough to fight for equality. As a feminist, I feel obligated to debunk some of the more popular ideas circulating about antifeminism. Continue reading “Debunking Antifeminism”→
With the recent talks of states wanting to cut funds for Planned Parenthood, it is necessary that we talk about what the organization provides. Planned Parenthood provides healthcare and sex education services for men and women, and at
Planned Parenthood Logo
some clinics, abortion services. The dialogues of potentially cutting funds for Planned Parenthood created several pro-life and pro-choice campaigns on social media pages like Facebook.
Where do I stand in this debate? I am both pro-life and pro-choice, and believe Planned Parenthood is a great organization. In some cases, a woman may feel that she needs to have an abortion. A woman is also a life and should be able to make that choice. As a society, we must recognize that family planning services are necessary for women and men.
One item society must change is the access to quality birth control. Several people, including teenagers, do not know the kinds of birth control on the market. Schools do not always teach methods to practice safe sex, and some teenagers have unwanted pregnancies. Schools and doctors’ offices need to educate women on birth control methods. If a woman or couple knows they do not want a child, they should use birth control. Birth control is a great way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and some abortions.
In certain areas of the United States, young women do not have access to birth control options and/or abortions. Some end up with unwanted pregnancies because they do not have access to a doctor who would prescribe them birth control or to a store with condoms. Occasionally, birth control methods do not work, and the woman becomes pregnant. Many young women are not able to care for babies and need to be able to seek a safe, legal and sanitary abortion. A co-worker once told me this, “To have a child, you must be ready to give up everything for the child. I had my first one at 16 and was ready, but some aren’t. You have to be ready.” If young girls are ready to become mothers and want to take care of their babies, I
A 220 foot long condom on the Obelisk in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the 2005 World Aids Day. Source: Pablo Flores from Wikipedia
respect their decision. But options must be available for those who are not ready.
Several women medically must have abortions. In 2012, Savita Halappanavar died from blood poisoning. Her husband said she would have survived if she had had an abortion, but since her baby had a fetal heartbeat, she was not able to do anything because abortion is illegal in Ireland.
One of my friends personally knows a woman in Wisconsin who received an abortion. She became pregnant and doctors diagnosed the fetus with omphalocele at the ultrasound. Doctors concluded the mother would suffer risky childbirth, and the child would die. The mother possibly may have died too. This woman decided to have an abortion. She did not want to suffer through another child’s death. I cannot imagine what it was like to be in her shoes.
In these situations, women need to have access to a safe, legal and sanitary abortion. The mother also is a life that is threatened in the process of pregnancy. The option needs to be available for her.
Many women who have had multiple children need access to a safe, legal and sanitary abortion because their bodies cannot handle childbirth anymore. The play Quilters shows a scene where women send letters to each other and a doctor to learn how to perform an abortion using different teas and herbs. The woman going to receive it does not have resources to care for multiple children, and physically cannot deliver another baby. Safe, legal and sanitary abortions must be accessible for women because the fetus could kill them. The mother is also a life.
Before Roe v. Wade, it was difficult and scary for women to receive abortions. One 74-year-old grandmother tells her story of receiving an abortion in New York. It cost her $250, which is 1959 was a lot of money. She describes in vivid details how the procedure went. She says she was a “good girl, conditioned to protect my reputation in the repressive sexual climate of the 1950s.” She later says she never had a mother-daughter conversation about sex and tells how other women were shamed and died at the abortionist clinic. Reading her story sent chills up my back because women suffered so much. Having access to a safe, legal and sanitary abortion is a must for women.
On xojane.com, one gynecologist chose her specialty so she could provide safe abortion services. Carolyn Payne, MD says she provides abortions because she thinks it is fair to women who did not have the education, tools or resources to prevent pregnancy. She says men hold a supermajority of economic and political power, and policies in this nation do not reflect the needs and interests of women. Having doctors that are passionate about women’s health is important for our society because they can help advocate for women’s health care and access to birth control and safe, legal and sanitary abortions. Planned Parenthood is such animportant organization because they provide health care and sex education to women and men. One in five women has used Planned Parenthood for health care. I highly disagreewith Sen. Rand Paul R-KY because Planned Parenthood provides way more than abortion services.
Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide family planning and abortion services serve a great purpose in society. They offer sex education to women and men, and make a safe, legal and sanitary abortion available for women. Women must have the option to access an abortion service. Remember this when voting for any public official.
On April 5, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Korman ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift the age restriction on emergency contraception, known commonly as “the morning after pill” or “Plan B.” The FDA has since approved Plan B One-Step, a brand of emergency contraception, to be made available over-the-counter for women aged 15 and older.
Plan B is intended to be used when other contraception methods fail, such as when a condom breaks. The pill contains the synthetic hormone levonorgestrel, and works by preventing a fertilized egg from attaching itself to the uterine wall. It must be taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse. Plan B prevents pregnancy from occurring. Contrary to the arguments put forth by anti-choice lobbyists, it cannot terminate an existing pregnancy.
“This is a thinly-veiled attempt to get an abortion drug over-the-counter,” said Dr. Donna Harrison, president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Central to the contentious debate over the ethics of the drug’s use is the disagreement over the exact moment that pregnancy begins. Pro-life arguments contend that pregnancy begins with fertilization, which typically occurs within 24 hours after intercourse, if a woman has just ovulated. However, many obstetricians and gynecologists maintain that, as it takes 5-7 days for the fertilized egg to implant in the uterus and begin to grow, if one interrupts the process before this implantation takes place, pregnancy never begins.
Despite the controversy associated with emergency contraception, the good news is women seeking to purchase Plan B will now be able to find it in the family planning and female health aisles of commercial retail stores, instead of having to rely on regular pharmacy opening hours. Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, welcomed the decision, stating:
“While there are still practical questions to resolve, this is an important step forward to expand access to emergency contraception and for preventing unintended pregnancy.”
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