Abortion Ban - When Women, Politics, Science, Religion Collide
Abortion continues to be a hot topic in the U.S. not only because its Supreme Court overturned in 2022 a 49-year-old decision in the court case Roe v. Wade but also because of the upcoming elections in November. Many find this issue to be a political one, with others viewing it under the lens of the Roman Catholic Church. In the end, abortion - banning it or supporting it - can simply be a matter of an individual dealing with a personal issue.
If there’s one hot topic in the U.S. that has been sizzling for roughly 50 years now, it will have to be the abortion ban.
Shepherd Express reported this week that South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham proposed anew about it. He recommended a nationwide ban.
Milwaukee’s newspaper described the senator’s act “like a hand grenade” thrown at the Republicans.
In the U.S. political calendar, it’s now the midterm, with the elections happening in November. Republican candidates have been trying to avoid it as they prepare for this voting season.
Banning abortion in the U.S. - with several lawmakers and politicians now supporting for a nationwide implementation - involves two more critical issues: preservation of democracy and protection of human life.
No wonder, abortion ban in the country can sometimes be too hot to handle even for those in power.
Before digging further into the roots of abortion ban in the U.S., it would be best to explain what abortion is all about.
Pregnancy can be stopped in two ways: involuntarily and voluntarily.
Involuntarily happens when the “pregnancy ends on its own,” according to familydoctor.org. In this case, it’s called spontaneous abortionor more commonly as miscarriage.
Different factors could cause it, including the following:
disease(e.g., diabetes; thyroid disease; autoimmune disorders, such as lupus)
infection (e.g., gonorrhea, HIV, syphilis)
trauma
use of illegal drugs
too much alcohol drinking and/or cigarette smoking
Voluntarily is when pregnant people willingly chooseto end their pregnancy because of reasons that can be generally categorized into two:
a. therapeutic reasons(e.g., the pregnancy and eventual child birth could kill them)
b. non-medical reasons(e.g., they are rape victims)
A voluntary abortion is more often referred to as induced abortion. More often, it’s done within the first three months of the pregnancy.
When MedlinePlus, a website managed by the National Library of Medicine, gave a meaning for the term “abortion,” it defined it in the context of an induced abortion:
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An abortion is a procedure to end a pregnancy.- MedlinePlus
There are two kinds of induced abortion, namely:
a. Medication abortion(or “abortion with pills”)
Abortion pills (e.g., oral misoprostol or Cytotec; oral mifepristone or Mifeprex) are used to kill the embryo or the fetus; thus, terminating the pregnancy.
Embryo: from conception to 8th week of pregnancy. Fetus: from 8th week until the baby is born.
b. Procedural abortion(or “surgical abortion”)
The fetus will be removed from the uterus. The uterus, by the way, is the female organ that’s also called the womb (the layman’s term).
According to MedlinePlus:
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The main function of the uterus is to nourish the developing fetus prior to birth.- MedlinePlus
It’s now clear why abortion ban is such a controversial issue. An embryo/fetus is considered a living organism - a developing human being inside a womb.
One huge, powerful, and influential organization that supports abortion ban is no less than the Roman Catholic Church.
Throughout the centuries, its catechism has been upholding the sanctity of human life.
That includes the “unborn human life,” according to the Washington-based United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). On its website, it stated:
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Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable.- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Based on an article republished by the Catholic News Agency, when Father William Paul Saunders, Ph.D., defined “abortion,” he used the words “unborn child.”
That “unborn child” is either the embryo or the fetus.
The USCCB pointed out how science acknowledged and verified that life starts at conception - at the earliest stage of an embryo.
With that said, the Catholic Church will continue to call for an abortion ban.
Two women, with each holding a sign showing their pro-abortion stance, mentioning religion and God
Another important factor to be considered in the discussion of abortion ban is the matter on human rights.
Based on an undated briefing paperby the New York-headquartered Center for Reproductive Rights (est. 1992), how a woman handles her own reproductive life is part of her human right.
Getting an abortion is part of her reproductive life; therefore, it’s part of her human right.
An abortion ban tramples on that particular right. The group emphasized that governments should recognize and respect this woman’s human right.
It also stressed how international treaties mentioned about the “legal support for a woman’s right to safe and legal abortion.”
In an information sheet published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and updated in 2020, the organization likewise underscored that thing.
For example, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), a U.N. human rights group in Geneva, regards abortion ban as a form of discrimination.
Two women protest about women having the right to choose and that women’s rights are human rights
According to Forbes, Sen. Graham’s bill has been the first one to recommended an abortion ban on a nationwide scale since the reversal of the decision.
The bill seeks to “criminalize abortion after 15 weeks into a pregnancy.”
Under Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act, the bill’s title:
1. It will be illegal to perform - as well as to attempt to perform - an abortion after 15 weeks from conception.
Two exemptions:
The pregnant woman is a rape victim.
She is a victim of incest.
2. Abortion will be permitted if it will save the life of the pregnant woman.
The pregnancy could be life-threatening because of the following conditions, as specifically cited in the bill:
“physical disorder”
“physical illness”
“physical injury”
3. If ever an abortion must be performed (due to one of the circumstances mentioned above), the assigned physician must do it in a way that “provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive.”
The proposed abortion ban bill by Sen. Graham considers therapeutic reasons to allow an abortion but not non-medical reasons.
Two young women show placards of support for abortion ban in the middle of a pro-abortion protest
In the U.S., abortion ban has become a divisive issue.
In fact, according to one article by the Editor & Publisher (E&P) Magazine, the public would sometimes surmise that it’s entirely an issue between the Democrats and the Republicans.
Though there’s a shred of truth in it, on the contrary, it’s more complicated than that.
Nevertheless, it should not be quickly dismissed as sort of a perennial topic between the two parties.
As Devin Windelspecht, the managing editor at the International Center for Journalists in Washington said to E&P Magazine:
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It’s not just a red vs. blue issue. Abortion is an incredibly complex issue. Reproductive health is an incredibly complex issue.- Devin Windelspecht
The intricacy of the abortion ban in America has made some states impose the ban on abortion while the others implement its legality.
According to E&P Magazine, even before the Supreme Court overturned its decision on Roe v. Wade, an abortion ban was already in place in several states.
One example: Oklahoma. Prior to that Roe v. Wadereversal episode, this state didn’t have even one abortion clinic.
These states had an abortion clinic but only one:
Mississippi
Missouri
North Dakota
South Dakota
West Virginia
Wyoming
A woman wearing a black T-shirt that says ‘I had an abortion;’ a huge sign that says ‘It’s time for women to speak’
It can be done through the intake of abortion pills or through procedural/surgical abortion. In a procedural abortion, a suction tube will be placed into the uterus to remove the fetus.