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| from The Huffington Post |
1973 was landmark year for the protection of women’s rights in America. Roe v. Wade confirmed the nationwide constitutionality of the right to an abortion. However, the right to an abortion does not necessarily guarantee the freedom to have one, and this is the reality for many vulnerable women in America. Numerous restrictions and conditions are placed to limit the accessibility to this crucial practice.
First among these restrictions are those applying to abortion clinics. These laws create arbitrary standards that are difficult to implement and are often aimed at closing them down. Some laws demand that abortion clinics meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centres (which is extremely excessive and unnecessary to perform safe abortions) and this requires renovations that are too expensive for some clinics. Some states require doctors to have admitting privileges to nearby hospitals, many of which deny these privileges. There is a significant lack of availability of clinics for women to go to. Abortion clinics are closing down at a record pace. In four states (Mississippi, North and South Dakota and Wyoming) just one remains. Especially poorer women cannot afford to pay for the transport or take time of work to seek out the inconveniently located clinics.
In the case Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992) the Supreme Court further restricted the freedom to have abortions. As justice Ginsburg said, this is seen as “an effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court, with increasing understanding of its centrality to women’s lives.” Two major provisions were upheld with dreadful implications to women. Firstly, girls under the age of 18 seeking an abortion have to receive parental consent. What if you're parents are stoutly Catholic or Muslim? What if you’re parents are abusive, or will isolate you from your family, or maybe you don’t even know your parents? Or worse, what if they were the ones who made you pregnant. A girl seeking an abortion without consulting their parents are obviously doing so consciously and should not have to be forced to not only tell them, but to only be allowed to proceed with their approval.
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| Justice Ginsburgfrom feminising.com |
Secondly, this ruling enforced a 24 hour waiting period before the procedure. A woman wanting an abortion will most likely have made up her mind prior her appointment considering the impact of such a personal decision. Yet another 24 hours is not needed; you know you want an abortion, and you cannot afford to take more time of work, or you cannot explain to your family why you are gone. This waiting period is made even worse by the counceling forced upon women. They have to sit through a doctor misleading them and telling them false information about the risks of abortion. Who knew abortion causes breast cancer or makes you infertile. Abortion is in fact one of the safest medical procedures. They are shown pictures of their foetus; and how that foetus would look like when aborted. In 20 states women are forced to have a medically unnecessary ultrasound that will add hundreds of dollars to the procedure. Some states have passed the Fetal Heartbeat Bill, which forces women to listen to the heartbeat of their foetus.
If all these barriers are successfully overcome and the emotionally vulnerable patient still hasn’t been scared out of the procedure, the disruptive and violent ant-choice hecklers successfully intimidate them with their harassing tactics. To place buffer zones to restrict the protestors from being right outside the clinics are considered to contradict the first amendment right to freedom of speech.
Many women are not in the right place in their life or are bullied out of betting a paramount procedure that they are legally entitled to. The procedure has become so difficult to obtain, and emotionally heavy that it is effectively illegal, despite it being a right in name.
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| from Texas GOP Vote.org |
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| from Independent.co.uk |
