The Alabama Abortion Ban Will Cause Deaths, Not Prevent Them
Why should people with uteruses be forced to carry to term and bear the mental, physical, and emotional baggage of a pregnancy we never wanted in the first place?
Right now is an incredibly terrifying moment in history to be a person with a uterus. Our bodily autonomy is under threat because cisgender men believe that our sole purpose in life is to be baby-making factories. We are not seen as humans deserving of healthcare, which is what abortion is, or being able to decide for ourselves what we want our futures to be. We are chastised for having casual sex because "if you are prepared for sex you are prepared for a child."
We have the responsibility of raising the child placed solely on us while the males that impregnate us are able to walk away unscathed. No one cares if our mental and physical health is at risk by being forced to give birth to a child we do not want because pro-lifers are "protecting a defenseless child." Come back and tell me how much you want to protect defenseless children when you turn a blind eye to the children being massacred in their own school's thanks to people like you refusing to pass gun control legislation.
The fact that Alabama has passed a law that now bans all abortions in the state except if the pregnant person's health is at risk completely blows my mind. Even survivors of rape or incest are unable to get an abortion. If the pregnant person does get an abortion, their doctors could face up to 99 years in prison for performing the procedure. And the cherry on top is that this law was passed because 25 white, male Republicans voted in favor of it. These men have taken control of the bodies of people with uteruses while also having no understanding of the ramifications of their actions. They will never have to grapple with the impossible decision of either giving birth to a child you never wanted or putting your life at risk by having an unsafe abortion.
Alabama isn't even the only state criminalizing abortions. Georgia's governor Brian Kemp signed a "fetal heartbeat" bill - banning abortions once a doctor can find a heartbeat in the womb. This happens around six weeks of pregnancy, which is before most people know that they are pregnant. Ohio and Mississippi have also passed their own "fetal heartbeat" bills and Louisiana, Missouri and South Carolina are in the process of passing theirs too. Also, Tennessee and Arkansas are trying to pass bills that would make abortions illegal if Roe v. Wade was overturned.
In case you thought this couldn't get any worse - it does. Pro-lifers are hoping that the abortion bans will be taken to the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade since the majority of the justices are Conservatives. The lives of every single person with a uterus in the United States is at risk and if you aren't terrified, you should be.
For those of you reading this that are pro-lifers and are thinking, "What if the baby you abort grows up and grows cancer?" Let me redirect you to Zara Larsson's recent tweet:
"what if the 16 year old girl you denying abortion grows up and cures cancer? But now she can't afford to go to get an education. Instead she has to take care of a baby?? What about her??? An actual living human???????"Here is the cold, hard truth: For many people, the thought of getting pregnant and having children is a nightmare, especially if it happens as a result of rape or incest. I have seen countless people even saying that if they got pregnant and were unable to obtain an abortion, they would commit suicide. We should be able to decide if having a child is something we want to be a part of our lives, and if it is not, no one should be forcing us. And no, the solution is not to just put the baby up for adoption. Not only are there already thousands upon thousands of children in foster care struggling to be adopted, but why should we be forced to carry to term and bear the mental, physical, and emotional baggage of a pregnancy we never wanted in the first place?
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