On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down Texas House Bill 2, a bill that required abortion care providers with admitting privileges and required clinics to enforce strict surgical standards. This resulted in the closing of nearly half of Texas abortion clinics. SCOTUS ruled the bill unconstitutional as it placed “undue burden” on women’s rights to terminate a pregnancy.
Although proponents of HB2 argue that it was for the “health and safety of women” and decreased unsafe practices in the past, the bill effectively put many women in difficult situations, particularly targeting lower-class working women.
Patients seeking the procedure were forced to take time off work or make transportation arrangements because local clinics were no longer an option. Instead, the majority of practicing clinics were only available in larger metropolitan areas. In other words, the government effectively decreased safe available means for women to receive a proper procedure.
Because of this, abortion rates in Texas declined significantly, but is this really a good thing? Countless women were forced to carry their pregnancy against their own will—a consequence that I simply cannot support. Abortion is a safe and relatively simple procedure, and countless doctors have come forward to corroborate this statement since HB2’s passing. Texas’s vital statistics show 993,844 abortions performed between 2001 and 2013 with only five deaths reported in the 13-year period.
As a pro-choice proponent, I respect that each woman has complete bodily autonomy, which means keeping or terminating the pregnancy is a choice reliant on the mother. Raising a child is a life-altering decision that should not be taken lightly. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the procedure, history has proven that women will find ways to terminate pregnancies whether it’s legal or not.
Before Roe v. Wade, women relied on hanger abortions or shady alley-way procedures often resulting in death or infertility. Instead of trying to impose legislation on women’s bodies, we should listen to the overwhelming majority. It’s 2016—let’s learn from the past, move forward and stop trying to control women’s bodies.
