By Karis Fields
Photo: Global Citizen — Source
Last Friday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to protect a persons right to having an abortion in response to recent Texas law which bans said right within six weeks after conception.
The Women’s Health Protection Act would allow individuals the right to having an abortion without having to go through any unnecessary tests or procedures beforehand.
Recently, the conversation around abortion and women’s health has grown rapidly each day, with terms such as “pro-life” and “pro-choice” being thrown about. Some feel that abortion should be a U.S. citizen’s given right. Others believe that abortion qualifies as murder.
There are multiple reasons why people may choose to get an abortion. Among these reasons include the parent not being able to financially support their child, the parent being an immigrant and therefore at risk of being separated from their child, the parent being too young to care for a child on their own, the parent having been raped, the parent having a medical or physical disability that their child would be at risk of inheriting, and even just the parent not being ready to take on the responsibility of caring for a child.
Another reason an individual may decide to have an abortion is for health purposes. The CDC states that about 700 people die per year due to complications in pregnancy as well as childbirth.
Additionally, the reason for abortion can also be due to the prevention of the still-birth of a child already presumed dead within the womb as well as due to the negative mental and physical impacts of rape.
And, while putting a child up for adoption is always an option, the United States foster care system is a very unforgiving place for a child. Some are lucky and get adopted by their first foster family right away, but many stay stuck in a system that moves them from one family to the next until they are eighteen years old. And, once they hit that age, the system essentially kicks them to the curb leaving so many kids to their own devices without support systems in place. Having access to abortion is a human right that would also help aid in fixing an unforgiving system of social services.