The Fading Pulse of Women's Rights

A terrifying wave of archaic sexism has washed ashore in a handful of states in the US recently, flooding the streets with baseless claims of human rights and drowning decades of feminist progress. The Heartbeat Bills and several other similar legislation making the rounds in state senates have set back the hands of time in placing the rights of a mass of cells in a woman’s uterus before the rights of the living, breathing, fully developed organism that carries that mass of cells. The absurdity of it all is unrealized to the pro-lifers that shout and protest miles above reason, rationality, and compassion.

I was once one of those pro-lifers. As a young lass I was a die hard Christian who wore Christian band shirts to school and joined the Christians on Campus club. I doodled crosses on my notebooks and attended church and youth group weekly, thirsty for the divine intervention that would save my wretched, misguided soul. It was during these youth group gatherings that we were introduced to pro-life propaganda. Small cases of tiny, fully formed humans were passed around the room (at 13 I had no idea that embryos did not look like this at 6 gestational weeks). Posters and photos of what appeared to be charred remains of dismembered babies post-abortion were held up for our God-fearing eyes to gaze upon. One youth leader shared a harrowing sinful tale of her choice to abort a baby when she was a teen, bearing her scarlet letter for us to gawk at in horror. I remember sharing this information with my peers at school, recruiting pro-lifers with the same propaganda that swayed my young and impressionable mind. I remember arguing with a friend that rape victims could receive treatments of spermicide to prevent pregnancy and our focus should be getting them help, not abortions. I even remember arguing that no matter how a child was conceived, it was not the child’s fault and abortion should not be an option.

I left the church about a year after this fateful lesson, but it took years for the light bulb of enlightenment to go on over my head, and I don’t quite recall exactly when it happened. I was a conservative. I voted Republican. I was a pro-lifer. But contrary to these labels, I was also gay, and I do remember how frustrated I felt as a gay woman to have people all over my home state voting on my personal life and my right to marry because of their personal beliefs. I remember realizing this was not much different from me voting for abortion. Eventually education set in as well and I realized the definition of life and the circumstances women face in pregnancy are not black and white, and I became pro-choice.

Now a liberal, Democratic, Atheist, pro-choice, feminist lesbian, I cannot handle the threats of the insanity knocking on all of our doors with these senseless bills. Though there are more than 11 states with such bills, most notably, Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia have recently introduced variations of the heartbeat bill. These bills indicate that once a heartbeat is detected, an abortion can no longer occur, neglecting the difficulty women have at even confirming pregnancy at this stage. Some have placed harsh restrictions on the circumstances under which abortions can occur, at times forcing women to carry non-viable babies to term even though they will not survive long past birth, so long as the mother’s life is not in danger. Some have repealed protective exceptions based on a baby having severe disabilities, and pregnancies resulting from rape and incest, even if they’re children. Some have criminalized doctors who perform abortions as well as women who seek abortions within or outside of their home states, and even opened the doors for investigations of miscarriages to ensure they occurred naturally. Some have even taken it a step further in Ohio, where they are proposing that any “drugs or devices that prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum” equate to an abortion as well. That’s right, using birth control pills, shots, patches, IUDs, or the morning after pill is considered an abortion in their eyes.

The fight against pro-lifers has been waging for centuries. Medically-induced abortions began legally in the early 1800s and were typically allowed prior to a woman’s “quickening,” or the period where the woman first felt the baby kick, typically between 20-24 weeks. These abortions were performed by various practitioners, including midwives, apothecaries, and homeopaths, and risks were high, as they were with any surgical procedures back in the day. Many states made it illegal on moral grounds but it has been suggested that doctors did not appreciate having these individuals who were not formally medically trained traipsing on their professional stomping grounds. It was made illegal in 1910 and many women were forced into back alley abortions, which at times ended in their deaths. In 1973, abortion was re-legalized through the Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade, but this victory was short-lived as many states worked through the loop-holes of the federal case to limit funding, access, and time frames for women to receive abortions. In 1992, the Supreme Court decided that restrictions can be placed on even first-trimester abortions, opening the door for these heartbeat bills to come down the line years later.

The trouble with heartbeat bills is that it attempts to define when a life begins. While some go so far as to say a fertilized ovum is the beginning of life, others have argued implantation, detectable heartbeat, or viability mark life’s commencement, and some have said at birth. The reality is even scientists are at odds in defining this, as Dr. Jennifer Kerns notes that heartbeats at 6 weeks are nothing more than electrical impulses of cells, not a pulsating organ that is supporting a cardiovascular or neurological system, as neither the cardiovascular nor the neurological system have developed enough to sustain life in the organism. Simply because technology has advanced enough to detect electric activity in cells does not mean that embryotic development has advanced enough to warrant human rights at the same time. But while science and reasoning sits on the table being blatantly ignored, pro-lifers have continued to gain traction on the battle for women’s rights.

What has become dangerous with this sudden surge of anti-abortion laws is that these lawmakers fully anticipate a fight. One state senator expressed his hope that someone would come forward to challenge the bills as it would eventually lead to a Supreme Court case. With the Supreme Court leaning toward a conservative majority, it is entirely possible that a SC case could overturn Roe v Wade, making the already complicated business of abortions impossible.

The obstacles women have faced in seeking abortions even after the landmark Roe v. Wade have placed such burdens on women that it would seem pro-lifers have had the upper hand for quite some time. Many states have shut down the majority of abortion clinics that once stood; some only have one clinic operating state-wide. Many of these clinics have completely lost federal funding, placing the responsibility of costs on the patients, and many insurance companies do not cover abortion as it is considered an elective procedure. Abortions cost anywhere from $350 to $1000 in the first trimester, and even more in the second. Many states require waiting periods, forcing women to meet with a physician and receive education on their potential baby, then wait another 24-48 hours before they can proceed with the abortion, hoping to guilt the mother into keeping the pregnancy. Some clinics have even forced these women to listen to their baby’s heartbeat prior to the abortion, waging psychological warfare on a decision that already bears so much emotion for the patient. Women even struggle to trust their general practitioners with their decision, as one Reddit user posted some time ago. She wrote that when she informed her doctor of her decision to abort, the doctor promised to provide information for an abortion clinic, but (illegally) provided her information to a pro-life clinic where she was contacted and misled into scheduling an appointment. Upon her arrival, she found herself being presented with anti-abortion information and was told she would not be receiving an abortion there. Delays in scheduling the appointment with the clinic almost resulted in her exceeding the legally permitted time limit for abortion.

Finding legitimate clinics to receive an abortion has grown even more challenging in recent years. With the Trump administration, it was widely known that funding for Planned Parenthood was completely cut due to the fact that its clinics performed abortions. It did not matter to him or any pro-life supporters that only 3% of their services were abortions, and the remaining 97% were services such as cancer screenings, pelvic exams, STI testing, sex education and birth control provisions, infertility treatments, and even adoption service referrals. They turned a blind eye to scientific evidence that showed when birth control and contraceptives are unavailable or difficult to obtain, unwanted pregnancies and thus abortion rates increase significantly. In addition to cutting funding to prevent pregnancy, funding has been cut to assist families who struggle to survive, including welfare programs WIC, and food stamps. Likewise, in a private insurance world where medical insurance is nothing more than big business, providing care for children with severe disabilities places families in significant debt trying to keep up with their medical bills. So essentially what the GOP is saying is we will not help you to avoid pregnancy, we will not help you end your pregnancy even if you can’t afford another child or your fetus is severely disabled, and we will not help you care for the child we forced you to have. It’s almost as if they expect women to commit themselves to a life of celibacy, which of course is entirely unrealistic, especially if it means these manly lawmakers will not be getting laid. And let’s not forget that when they do need to get laid and they accidentally get their mistress pregnant, they will briefly become pro-choice and suddenly abortions are okay.

It’s not easy to challenge a lifetime of indoctrinated beliefs. It’s not easy to overcome the strongest of confirmation biases and open yourself up to another viewpoint and logical reasoning. In one post on Reddit regarding these bills, a poster commented that people cannot and will not change their stance on abortion no matter the circumstance. I’m proof that people can. But even if in your heart you cannot bring yourself to agree with abortion, try to come to terms with this: whatever decisions we make for ourselves, we do not have the right to make those decisions for others, no matter what our personal beliefs may be. Pro-choice doesn’t mean being pro-abortion, it means being 100% minding your own fucking business.