Early in October, Texas passed a controversial health bill suggesting that all abortions will be illegal should they occur after the sixth week of pregnancy. This stirred a series of protests against the bill from women’s organisations all over the US while other states are gearing towards the same policy. Moreover, the state of Texas is encouraging people to report citizens that had abortions violating the newly-stated bill with a 10,000$ reward. Many women feel affected by this atrocious policy as if it is witch-hunting. It is pretty hard for any woman to find out whether she is pregnant or not before any embryonic heartbeat is detected which usually happens around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Studies show that it affects mainly people of colour and of low income as they will not have the means in case they need to travel out of state to get the needed healthcare and have an abortion. Many things can go wrong during pregnancy, and the most common of all is endangering a woman’s life and a non-viable pregnancy that could end both the life of the mother and the embryo. That is why in most cases, doctors, when it comes to choosing who to save they choose the mother. In late-term abortions as a result of stillbirth, that is 1 in 160 or 24,000 babies are stillborn. In that case, should the doctor not intervene as demanded by the new ban, consequences can be fatal for the mother. However, the question remains, do we want orphaned children ready to be adopted and fostered in the already broken system, or legalise abortions and make them safe for anyone needing one?
Compared with the European countries where 95% of women live in countries with full legal access to abortion up to 12 weeks after conception, 14 weeks after the last menstrual period, and complete legal access if something is wrong with the pregnancy.
The bill will be slowly be making its way to the Supreme Court. At the same time, many Law professors are afraid of this conservatory majority with Amy Coney Barrett, succeeding the legendary Ruth Bader-Ginsburg that managed in the 1970s to legalise the right for women to have power over their bodies. It is speculated that Roe V Wade could be overturned, banning safe abortions for women in the States. Therefore, a whole generation of women will be living again in fear of unsafe abortions facing death and additional health issues they never asked for.