At the beginning of the semester I touched on a topic very near and dear to my heart, and that is the right that women have to their own bodies. A few months ago at this point, Texas lawmakers implemented strict abortion laws banning medical surgery after six weeks of pregnancy. At six weeks the “neural tube” begins to close and begins the formation of the spinal cord. The fetus at this point is the size of a tadpole and the creation of the heart will begin during the 7th week. There were many oppositions to the implementation of this bill but lawmakers still proceeded to carry on with implementation. Usually, women are unaware of the pregnancy until after two weeks of a missed period cycle, this would put the realization of pregnancy past the 6-week point. The law also does not have any grace for victims of rape or those who face pregnancies that will implicate health issues for the mother. The Law also allows the kin of the fetus to prosecute anyone who assists the mother with the surgery. A very similar law has recently been proposed in Ohio, but unfortunately, this law is way more extreme. If implicated, the law would completely ban all abortion access in Ohio and would again, allow the prosecution of whoever seeks the procedure. This law is called the 2363 Act, and I strongly urge you to sign the petition at the end of this post. These unruly laws that are being placed on women’s bodies in the name of “ProLife” remind me heavily of Ortiz Cofer’s “The Story of My Body”. Throughout the story, you navigate through Cofer’s life and see the moments where her body did not seem like her own. This may be when she is made fun of due to her appearance, or the over-sexualization of the way she looks while she is in college because she was deemed ‘exotic’. Other people’s opinions on Cofer’s body made her mind think differently of herself, and who is to say that is not how these laws are making women feel about pregnancy. The constant negative media attention of women pursuing abortions may steer other women away from the procedure and leave many children in terrible situations. If all abortions are completely banned, the rise of children in an already full foster care system would skyrocket, and the number of malpractice cases from unsafe abortion clinics would rise as well. Putting limitations on abortion after the first trimester is understandable, but the complete removal of a woman’s choice is uncalled for.
Link To Petition:
https://www.weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/a/stop-total-abortion-ban?sourceid=1008119
https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/18/texas-heartbeat-bill-abortions-law/
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/579944-ohio-lawmakers-introduce-abortion-bill-that-goes-further-than-texas-law
