The Bush administration and the current Congressional leadership are leading us down a very dangerous path. Two pieces of key legislation have been passed during this session of Congress that are slowly chipping away at a woman's right to choose: the partial birth abortion ban and the unborn victims of violence act. While on their face these bills don't seem very significant, they are actually extremely important in the on-going debate over reproductive choice.
Based on its title, it would seem as though the partial birth abortion ban only outlaws a specific (and quite gruesome!) abortion procedure that occurs in the last trimester of pregnancy. However, the broad and general terms that are used in the bill could outlaw other quite common and safe abortions that happen in the second trimester of pregnancy or earlier. Additionally, the ban makes no provision for health emergencies that occur at the end of pregnancy. This blatant disregard for the health of women is unacceptable. In essence, the bill subordinates a woman's life to that of a fetus. The bill does not merely restrict certain procedures that are used in extremely rare cases, but can really be seen as a first step towards eliminating all abortions.
The bill also discourages medical professionals from performing abortions. It superficially imposes a punishment of up to two years imprisonment for those found in violation of it. Given the general terms of the ban, doctors would rather "play it safe," and not perform any abortions, than subject themselves to possible criminal charges.
The unborn victims of violence act is inspired by the Laci Peterson saga. This bill states that if a woman is pregnant and is killed, the murderer can be held responsible for killing two people, instead of one. The significance of this bill is not the bill itself, which would increase penalties for killing a pregnant woman, but rather that the bill identifies the unborn child as a human life. One of the underlying tenets in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision is that the fetus was not given stature as a full human life. Once we pass legislation declaring that the unborn child is a human life, then the pro-life argument that abortion is killing children becomes more salient.
While these two bills are the most significant, there have been numerous other attempts to curb legal abortions. For instance, laws mandating waiting periods and parental consent are already in place in many states. Additionally, an increasing number of medical schools are not training doctors to perform abortions, and an increasing number of hospitals don't have abortion procedures available.
Separately, none of these measures are that important, but taken together, they can have a far reaching impact on the lives and well-being of women. Pro-lifers know they are outnumbered, so their strategy is to meticulously chip away at women's rights through laws that appear harmless. Unfortunately, we are allowing them to get away with their nefarious plan. Too many women take their reproductive rights for granted. Roe v. Wade is not by any means a permanent guarantee of a woman's right to choose. There is currently a five to four majority on the Supreme Court in support of Roe v. Wade, so with a slight change in the composition of the Supreme Court (just think of the damage another Justice Scalia on the Court would do!), the ruling can be overturned. We are incredibly close to reverting to the old days of back alley abortions.
Despite all of these attempts to prevent women from having control over their reproductive systems, this is still a very winnable battle. We can all do things to help keep options available to women. First, we need to keep ourselves informed. We have to be aware of what having a right to reproductive choice means, and expose the myths that the other side perpetrates.
Having this right does not sanction sexual promiscuity as some critics would have you believe. Instead, it provides options for women in difficult situations to make a decision based on what is best for their needs and their body. Allowing women to have control over their bodies is the first step towards achieving true equality for men and women.
Just as this right is not a license to promiscuity, neither is it the "mass murder of innocent life" as some opponents claim. (It is ironic that the very opponents so concerned with innocent life favor the death penalty.) As established by Roe v. Wade, the fetus is not a fully developed life, and shouldn't be thought of as one.
Not only do we need to be aware of the arguments of the other side, but we must also understand the practical consequences of being denied this right. If abortions are outlawed, it is not as if they will magically disappear. Instead, there will be a huge increase in the number of illegal abortions, which endanger women's lives. Only by being conscious of the history of the movement can we prevent these atrocious experiences for women. As Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued Roe v. Wade, so eloquently said in a lecture at the College last year, "The pro-lifers have done such a good job of presenting their argument that we have forgotten about the history of the movement. I wore a button with a slash through a hanger onto an airplane, and a man said to me, 'What do you have against hangers?'"
However, it is not enough just to know what hangers symbolize and to be informed about the issue; we have to take action. We need to write to our representatives in Congress, and tell them to vote down these bills taking away women's reproductive choice. We need to go out and vote for pro-choice candidates. We have a presidential election on the horizon with one candidate, John Kerry, who has consistently supported a woman's right to choose, and another candidate, George W. Bush, who is a pawn of the anti-choice Religious Right. Also, this Sunday, April 25, there is a pro-choice march on Washington, D.C., and we need to go down there and show our support for the health and equality of women.