By Charlize Althea Garcia and Victoria Mejicanos, Nov. 5, 2024
The removal of the constitutional right to an abortion is a blatant display of the patriarchal cultural structures in the United States of America. Abortion access is a human right. A person is not free if they cannot make decisions about their own body, or worse if they are criminally charged for making choices about their own body.
There are many women, including one of us, who relies on other forms of reproductive health care such as birth control because of a condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Some of the symptoms that come with this chronic condition are cysts on the ovaries, hormone fluctuations and irregular periods. It also comes with immense pain.
Women and their health are dismissed so often that it took several years to receive birth control as an option, and it is the only option presented when it comes to the issue. Depending on the candidate, even this is on the line. Without birth control, one of us will have to go back to a life of constant pain and being dismissed because “it’s normal.”
Pain is embedded in every female life. And this country has left them for dead.
Instead of celebrating her baby shower with her family, Nevaeh Crain spent almost two days experiencing an immense amount of nausea, abdominal pain and eventually a miscarriage. Her mother pleaded for her life and doctors did nothing because of Texas’ restrictive laws. She was soon pronounced dead.
A mother of two, Candi Miller, died by her daughter’s side because of a self-induced abortion. Due to an unexpected pregnancy and chronic conditions that proved fatal to her life if she went through with the birth, she performed an abortion that would later end her life. She took action because of Georgia’s restrictive law.
Fixation on this issue is no surprise. This has been and always will be a discrimination issue against women. The widespread ban of abortion in 14 states is an attempt to control women and their bodies.
After the passing of Roe v. Wade, the rights of women expanded greatly. Women were able to own a home and open a line of credit without a man. Women were no longer excluded from juries. Women served on the Supreme Court and went to space for the first time. Women have since gone on to do much more, like run for president.
The removal of access to abortion has robbed women of a crucial right and abortion will be the first of many rights to go if people in other states continue to show apathy.
Although women in California are guaranteed the right to abortion access, there are millions of women across the country left to fend for themselves.
Lack of access to abortion care, or the threat to the loss of access implements fear and enforces the idea that women are inferior in a country that touts individual freedom. We are second class citizens in our own country.
The purpose of an abortion is often categorized as a preference, rather than acknowledging that it can be a medical necessity. This is due to Western ideals that have existed since the foundation of the country, based on white evangelicalism, that still permeate many of our laws and systems today It takes no account of life and death but the moral compass of communities who have been known to oppress.
The choice to not have an abortion is classified as pro-life where it really should be classified as pro-birth. The choice to obtain an abortion can stem from a multitude of reasons. Some women don’t desire to have children. Sometimes the decision is as plain and simple as that. Other times it can be because they can’t afford more children or they are at serious risk of life altering injury or death or simply want to prioritize themselves. Whatever the reason may be, the government should have no influence on the decision.
Oftentimes a woman knows well before the birth of a child that she and/or others around her are unable to provide the care necessary. When women are denied abortions their children may grow up in less than ideal conditions. If the issue was really about the concern of the life of a child, abortions would be more widely accepted. Children should grow up in safe, healthy and happy homes.
Before an embryo even has the chance to grow, the women carrying the pregnancy will have to deal with costs related to care. According to Forbes, “Giving birth costs $18,865 on average, including pregnancy, delivery and postpartum care.” Also according to Forbes, even without any complections, the cost of prenatal care adds up. A woman will have to visit the doctor 10-15 times, where no doubt tests will be performed, adding to the cost.
Children also deserve to live in a world knowing that their mothers will not be forced to give birth or die. A six-year-old boy lost his 28-year old mother, Amanda Nicole Thurman, because doctors in a Georgia hospital feared they could go to prison and took 20 hours to operate. Thurman could have survived had there not been a ban on the procedure that would have saved her life. A son could have grown up with a mother.
If it’s a matter of life, what about the life of a woman? The closure of abortion clinics can be directly related to an increased maternal mortality rate. Additionally, access to abortion is directly tied to a woman’s economic success according to NPR .
This is an argument of fighting for the right of bodily autonomy, not of moral codes or the “sanctity” of our country. People often separate the two entities: embryo and woman. And in that moment, the woman becomes secondary. That is because of religious and social ideals, the woman is overlooked.
In California, we are “lucky.” In another state, we are left to subsist without resources.Hostile restrictions not only target access to abortion but also create adverse outcomes in states such as limited maternity care providers and maternity care deserts. There is a direct relationship between states with abortion bans and an increased maternal death rate. Abortion-restriction states had a 62% higher maternal death rate than states with greater access to abortion care.
There are countless instances in which women have died or have received fatal injuries because of an unsafe abortion. Countless instances in which women have had to endure hardship both economically and socially because they were denied an abortion. The continuing implementation of restrictions are known to contribute to the increase of racial, ethnic and education inequities.
Abortion saves many more people than it may harm. Abortion is health care. Abortion is a human right.
Feature image by Lauren Wong
