Expanding Abortion Rights

Expanding Abortion Rights

Introduction

There are several instances where abortion is necessary in the U.S. When pregnancy is the result of a crime such as child abuse, incest, or rape, abortion is necessary. In case the child would have an unacceptable quality of life by having serious mental defects, genetic problems, and physical handicaps, abortion appears to be a better option. Other than allowing aborting for the sake of the mother’s health, social reasons such as poverty, mother unable to cope with the child, and mother being too young to take care of the child are strong grounds for legalizing abortion. It is also a viable way of population regulation and improving the population.  Due to the benefits associated with abortion, it is important to give the freedom of choice to women and physicians and promote the “unwilling to bear the unwanted.”

Abortion Policy background

Abortion has been performed for several years in the United States. When the Constitution was adopted, abortion before “quickening” was commonly performed. The states, with varying motives, started passing laws that declared abortion illegal in the 1800s. Some states feared that the population would be dominated by the children of the immigrants since they had higher birth rates. There were also several dangers associated with abortion due to lack of safe technology (Battistelli et al., 2018). Although advancements in scientific methods made the practice more effective and much safer, women who needed abortions sought help from illegal practitioners, who did not use the advanced technology available.

It was in 1973 when the Supreme Court decision in Roe V. Wade allowed women to seek legal and safe abortions from well-trained medical practitioners. Women had the right to decide whether to have a child. Women and doctors also had the freedom to make the decision without state interference. While supporters of abortion rejoiced the new law, the opposers started disrupting clinics where abortion services were provided.  Women trying to enter the clinics were harassed, and the clinics’ properties were vandalized. The environment for women seeking abortions became hostile (Nash & Donovan, 2019). This resulted in the Supreme Court, allowing for more restrictions on abortion. Since 1992, many states have put in place restrictions such as mandatory waiting periods, parental involvement, and biased counseling.

Current State of Abortion Policy

In 2019, conservative state legislators enacted an unprecedented wave of bans on different abortions. About 25 new abortion bans were signed into law by the end of 2019. The legislators also adopted other types of abortion restrictions, such as requiring abortion providers to give parents inaccurate and misleading information about the possibility of reversing a medication abortion during counseling. These state-level policy developments restricting or banning abortion have raised a lot of questions about the ability and integrity of the Court to respect settled law (Peters, 2015). This is likely to have a huge impact on women seeking abortion services in different parts of the country. Most of the new abortion restrictions enacted in 2019 would some, most, or even all abortions.

The group of legislators supporting the new policy on abortion bans intent to provide the Supreme Court with various opportunities to overturn or undermine the constitutional protections for people seeking abortion care (Stone, 2012). Some states are now restricting abortion after a certain point in pregnancy, others prohibit a particular method of abortion, and others restrict based on why the patient is seeking the abortion.

Anti-abortion groups such as Americans United for Life, National Right to Life Committee, and the American Life League support the legal restrictions based on sectarian and moral grounds. The common argument is that human life starts at conception, and it is important to let the human zygote live since it has the right to life. About 42% of all unintended pregnancies end up in abortion. This is a large figure because 92% of abortions in the United States are the result of unintended pregnancy. According to the CDC, the abortion rate in 2016 was 186 abortions in every 1000 live births. The anti-abortion groups argue that there are several lives being lost through abortion. For these groups, using contraceptives could be better than taking the lives of unborn babies.

Groups supporting the expansion of abortion rights argue that states should make abortions safe and easy as they develop other satisfactory methods of birth control. According to the National Organization for Women, there are around 5 million women in the United States who cannot access birth control, and abortion seems to be the only viable option.  There are thousands of women who suffer diseases that make the birth of a healthy baby unlikely. Based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports, most of the effective contraceptives have a failure rate of 1.5 to 3%. If all married women used these contraceptives, about 350,000 to 700, 000 unintended pregnancies would occur every year. This calls for the option of making abortion legal to the women who need it.

Policy Alternatives

As a way of reducing maternal deaths, legislation should enact policies that promote sex education and expand access to contraception. It is through sex education that most of the unintended pregnancies can be avoided (Huber, 2018). Increasing access to effective contraception can help in limiting the rate of abortions.

Recommendation

All women deserve the right to access a full range of sexual and reproductive health services they need, which include abortion. The legislation should protect women’s access to safe and affordable abortion care. Parental consent can be harmful and should not be mandatory. It is a constitutional right to privacy for young people to have confidentiality in medical treatment.

References

Battistelli, M. F., Magnusson, S., Biggs, M. A., & Freedman, L. (2018). Expanding the abortion provider workforce: a qualitative study of organizations implementing a new California policy. Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, 50(1), 33-39.

Huber, K. (2018). Pregnancy Counseling and Abortion Politics: Exploring the Effects of the Expanding Therapeutic Culture in U.S. Society.

Nash, E., & Donovan, M. K. (2019). Ensuring Access to Abortion at the State Level: Selected Examples and Lessons. GUTTMACHER POL’Y REV., 22, 1.

Peters, B. G. (2015). American public policy: Promise and Performance (10th ed.) Washington, D.C.: C.Q. Press.

Stone, D. A. (2012). Policy paradox: The art of political decision making (Vol. 13). New York: ww Norton.