Most parents tell their young children the notorious story of the birds and the bees, but nowadays, the topic of getting pregnant and having a baby has become both sensitive and controversial. States like Texas even decided that abortion should not be legal.
Abortion has caused issues for decades, but one Supreme Court case became famous and represented women everywhere: Roe v. Wade. In 1970, Jane Roe—a fake name used to protect the woman’s identity—filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of the county where Roe resided. According to History, during the time of the case, abortion in Texas had been illegal unless the birth would result in the death of the mother. Roe argued that the state not letting her have an abortion violated the right to privacy guaranteed under the Constitution. The Supreme Court eventually came to a 7–2 decision in favor of Roe. Oyez describes the court’s ruling, stating, “the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects against state action the right to privacy, and a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion falls within that right to privacy.”
Texas has made a disturbing turn-around since the Roe v. Wade debate, now deciding to put restrictions on the process of abortion with a new law, Senate Bill 8. According to Planned Parenthood, SB8, “bans abortion in Texas at approximately six weeks — before most people even know they’re pregnant — with no exceptions for rape and incest.” Texas twisted the law in a way that allows women to have an abortion before six weeks, but as the quote explains, it takes a while for women to even know they carry a baby, so the law doesn’t make any sense.
As mentioned before, SB8 restricts victims of rape and incest from getting an abortion. Talk about unethical. NPR describes an instance involving Piper Stege Nelson, the Chief Public Strategies Officer for the Safe Alliance. Nelson has seen the aftermath that incest and rape has on kids. She met a little girl—whose name remains anonymous—who had been repeatedly raped by her father for years, resulting in a pregnancy. Luckily, this happened weeks before the SB8 had passed, so with the help of Nelson, she managed to get an abortion. Nelson describes the interaction with the child, saying, “she got pregnant… She had no idea about anything about her body. She certainly didn’t know that she was pregnant.” Many women—and kids—simply don’t know their options. The law doesn’t take into account the traumatic experiences of rape and incest victims, or recognize that some women may not be emotionally stable enough to be in charge of another life. These legislators needs to start realizing that it takes two to tango.
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