I’m a mother by choice and by good fortune. It’s a blessing to get pregnant on a timetable that is acceptable to you and under circumstances of your own choosing. It’s also a blessing to sustain a desired pregnancy through to the birth of a healthy child. I recognize that I am one of the blessed women. And because of this fortune, in my twenties, I rarely empathized with the pro-choice movement. In fact, I had once considered myself to be pro-life, but that changed as I became aware of the plight of other women. Now the choice of many women is in peril.
I was appalled to learn about the new heartbeat law, HB 481, that just passed in the state of Georgia that bans abortion as soon as a heartbeat can be detected, around six weeks into pregnancy (except for cases of rape and incest). I didn’t even know I was pregnant at six weeks and I’m certain many women don’t. I saw news reports and read three separate articles on the new law because it sounded so unbelievable. I feel like I am witnessing a true life version of “The Handmaid’s Tale” wherein a bunch of powerful religious white men take over the reproductive rights of women as though they are nothing more than baby-making machines. Only in this real life scenario, society is not in danger of extinction from infertility. These are Republican religious zealots seeking to impose their will to dominate women using forced motherhood.
The new law criminalizes abortion to the point that women can be sentenced to life in prison or even the death penalty. Doctors who perform abortions can be sentenced to 99 years in prison. What’s more, women who travel to other states to get an abortion can be prosecuted. If this wasn’t bad enough, the law gives the unborn full personhood rights. The ramifications of that alone were not well thought out. Women who miscarry can be scrutinized to see if they contributed to the miscarriage. And if found guilty, they can be prosecuted for murder.
My mind is blown. Not only is this very bad public policy, but the law ignores all manner of privacy and personal decision making among women. How will the state know if I am pregnant? How will the state know whether or not I traveled to another state to visit my grandmother and got an abortion while there? How will the state determine that my miscarriage was nature taking its course or an accidental fall down the steps? They can even question whether or not I was truly raped. Beyond these absurdities, it is important to look at whose life prospects are really being determined by these mostly white male Republican legislators.
I did a little research into who is having an abortion and how many we are talking about nationwide. I got the statistics from a pro-life website . Of the approximately one million abortions carried out each year, 85% are unmarried women, 75% are low income, and 60% are in their twenties. These are women who are looking at their situation and deciding that the timing isn’t right for them to become mothers. And by the way, 55.4% are black and Hispanic women. Surprisingly, 60% are already mothers who are deciding not to have another child at that time. According to NBC reporting, about 1/3 of American women have had an abortion. The great majority of abortions are carried out early in pregnancy. To pro-lifers, like those in Georgia that doesn’t make any difference. But to me it does.
Anyone who has heard me talk about this topic knows that I believe life begins with breath. Just as God formed Adam out of the dust of the earth, it wasn’t until He breathed the breath of life into him that Adam became a living soul. I see the womb as a forming place. I believe when the fetus takes breath outside the womb, then there is a living soul. I don’t like late term abortions except in very rare medical circumstances. Given the chance, fetuses as early as 24 -26 weeks gestation can survive outside the womb, so give that baby a chance because life is precious. But so is the life of the mother.
Does pro-life mean ending the life of a desperate woman who doesn’t hold your religious belief about when life begins and so chooses for herself and her family to end a pregnancy? Does pro-life mean removing mothers from their growing children by throwing them in prison because they can’t afford to feed and nurture another child? Does forcing desperate women to go underground like they did before legalized abortion sound like a good idea? The Republican legislature in Georgia and the other states who are passing these ridiculous anti-abortion laws need to think seriously about what they are doing. Forcing young, poor women into motherhood or prison does nothing positive for anyone. And about 1/3 of these would be black women. And beyond all this, who is going to provide for the health, education, nurturing, and general welfare of all the accidental children that will be born? The Republicans seem to be rolling back social safety nets, not broadening them to actually enable these women to choose motherhood. Or better yet, how about expanding access to free and affordable contraception in the first place?
I love being a mother, but I wonder how much I would love motherhood had it been forced upon me at a time and under circumstances that were much less than ideal for me and my child.
Well said. One genius lawmaker has figured out how to save an ectopic embro, not that medical science supports his theory, but it is in his proposed bill. I shared a video of 5 young men, (3 fathers), who were wired with electrodes that simulated labor pain. I propose every elected official (including women), not only view this video, but also take a manditory class on all aspects of Feminine Biology, prior to any proposed bills. Then focus on ending school violence, funding mental care access & domestic abuse. 16 year olds need to be protected, too. Common sense prison reform & support for all the living. My opinion.