Ethics & Religion
Column #1,970
May 23, 2019
Abortion Becoming Illegal
By Mike McManus
Abortion is becoming illegal - or nearly so - in eight states.
Alabama, Georgia and Ohio have passed laws that drastically restrict
access to abortion. For example, Alabama passed the nation's most
restrictive measure that bans abortion unless a woman's health is at
"absolute risk."
If she were raped or the victim of incest, she could not get an
abortion. Physicians giving an "illegal abortion" would face up to 99
years in prison.
When rape survivors told their stories to Alabama legislators, it was
televised across America. Then the country "watched in horror as 25 male
senators ignored them and passed a law that would ban all abortions,
without exception for rape or incest" asserted Dr. Leana Wen, chief
executive of Planned Parenthood.
The new restrictions in Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Ohio ban
abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, in as few as 6 weeks,
when a woman may not yet have realized that she is pregnant. They are
known as "heartbeat" laws. Utah's new law bans abortions after 18 weeks.
None of these laws have yet taken effect. They are being challenged by
opponents who hope to defeat them in court. However, proponents of the
restrictive laws dream they will be appealed to the Supreme Court where
pro-life advocates hope to overturn the Court's Roe v. Wade
decision in 1973 - nearly a half century ago. That decision allows
abortions until the baby could survive outside the womb, in the last
trimester, from week 28-40.
"The heartbeat bill is the next incremental step in our strategy to
overturn Roe v. Wade," says Mike Gonidakis, president of
Ohio Right to Life after a version of the fetal heartbeat bill was
signed into law in his state.
Elizabeth Nash, a senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher
Institute, adds, "What we're seeing this year is really unprecedented
when we're talking about early abortion bans." She indicates that 21
states passed abortion restrictions in the first three months of 2019,
the most important being the heartbeat laws.
"What we are seeing is the floodgates opening at the state level," she
enthuses.
States have also passed legislation banning a certain method of
abortion, known as dilation and evacuation, which is the most common
procedure used after 14 weeks of pregnancy. In April, North Dakota
became the latest state to enact such legislation and Ohio adopted a
similar law late last year.
Some of these same states have also passed "trigger laws" that would
take effect - banning abortion altogether - if Roe v. Wade
is overturned. Among those states are Arkansas and Kentucky. Four states
passed trigger laws over the past decade: Louisiana, Mississippi, South
Dakota and North Dakota.
I believe these laws are too extreme that virtually ban abortion.
At an opposite extreme, New York is one of several states fortifying
abortion access. In January New York enacted a law that removed abortion
from the state's criminal code, stating that individuals who become
pregnant have "the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to
term, to give birth to a child, or to have an abortion."
To put it more bluntly, New York is allowing the abortion of a child
within days of delivery! Vermont passed a similar bill that gives women
the freedom to abort a child over nine months of pregnancy.
New York and Vermont are legalizing infanticide! And it is a picture of
what could happen in every state if Roe v. Wade is
overturned.
In that decision, the Supreme Court legalized abortion - but only up to
the second trimester of the pregnancy. It is a moderate measure which
balances the right of the mother to have an abortion for 27 weeks after
conception. But it prohibits killing a child who can survive outside the
womb.
Roe v. Wade should be upheld by the Supreme Court.
What are the odds that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade?
That may come down to the decision of the newest member of the Supreme
Court, Brett Kavanaugh.
During his confirmation hearings, he was asked about the issue. He told
Senators, "As a general proposition, I understand the importance of the
precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade." He also told Senators
Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski that Roe is "settled law."
However, in a 2000 interview on CNN, after the Supreme Court struck down
a Nebraska law banning dilation and evacuation abortions, Kavanaugh
praised Justice Kennedy's dissent. That suggests Kavanaugh could support
Roe.
I hope he affirms the Supreme Court's original decision, which strikes a
balance between the woman who got pregnant - and the mother who could
give life to her child.
__________________________
Copyright (c) 2018 Michael J. McManus, a syndicated columnist and past president of Marriage Savers. To read past columns, go to
www.ethicsandreligion.com. Hit
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