The year was 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Roe v. Wade case that women had a right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. During the first trimester, governments could not prohibit abortion, during the second trimester, governments could not prohibit abortions, but could regulate them based on maternal health, and during the third trimester, they could be prohibited unless the mother's health was at risk. Although this was a Supreme Court ruling, there are trigger laws (an unenforceable law) that vary by state, meaning states can prohibit abortions.

Now, unless you've been living under a rock, you probably have heard about Georgia and Alabama. Georgia's governor just passed a "heartbeat bill" meaning once a doctor is able to detect a fetal heartbeat in the womb, which is usually about six weeks into the pregnancy, your right to an abortion is no longer available. Keep in mind most women do not know they are pregnant six weeks in.

In Alabama, there is a proposed bill that prohibits abortions once the fetus is in utero. In utero literally means the fetus is in your uterus. So basically, abortion is not an option. At all. Before you ask, yes, rape and incest are not exempt. If you are raped and become pregnant, you still have to carry the fetus to term and birth it. The only exception is if there is a severe health risk to the mother. However, these laws will not be enforced until 2020, they do have to be passed in court first, and no, if you miscarry you will not be sent to prison.

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Although these laws have not been completely passed and are not in full effect yet, it is still a scary thought to think that those of us who have the ability to get pregnant may lose the right to decide whether or not we want to keep the unborn child growing inside of us. Please, don't preach at me and tell me there are options and do not tell me that abortion is not a form of birth control. No one WANTS to get an abortion, no one says "Oh, don't worry about using a condom, I'll just get an abortion."

Condoms break, sometimes the pill, IUD, etc, does more harm than good, or it is not as easily accessible as we want it to be, AND the morning after pill is pretty expensive, too. (Don't get me started on these same lawmakers trying to defund Planned Parenthood.) Also, don't start in with the whole "well don't have sex if you don't want a kid" thing. You and I both know telling people to not have sex is unrealistic.

The point is, it is 2019, we deserve a right to choose what we do with our bodies no matter what the circumstances are. If you are raped and get pregnant, you should be able to choose what happens next. If you are with someone for 10 years, and don't want kids but just so happen to become pregnant, you should be able to choose, If you had a drunken one night stand and forgot to use a condom, you should be able to choose. It is no one's business how you became pregnant or what you want to do about it. Adoption isn't always the best answer, either. There are too many children slipping through the cracks in the system that all these "pro-lifers" don't care about once they are born. Banning abortions is not going to stop them from happening, it's just going to stop them from happening safely.

If you would like to help prevent the abortion bans, here is what you can do:

Call your senator and tell them you are calling to urge your senator to vote against the immoral abortion ban.

Donate to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.

Sign the petitions and get daily updates from the ACLU.