Another step in the wrong direction. As women, we are supposed to have the same equal rights as our male peers, but we do not. As women, we are supposed to grow, become successful, and live our lives in the way we wish to live them, but we cannot. 

On September 1, 2021, Texas banned all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Which is before most women even know they’re pregnant. The law allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone else who helps a woman obtain an abortion. This includes those who give a woman a ride to a clinic or provide financial assistance to obtain an abortion, health providers that suggest the option, health providers that operate, etc. Private citizens who bring these suits don’t need to show any connection to those they are suing. 

For many women, choosing to have an abortion is a really difficult and unwanted decision. However, there are many circumstances in which they may feel it necessary. However, just because the state is forcing women to have children, doesn’t mean they are going to keep them. There will be an extreme surplus of children in the foster care system. Our foster care system is already flooding and does not have the funds to take in thousands of more children. With that being said, children might be more likely to be homeless or placed with people who are unfit or unsafe to foster them. 

In addition to that, not all women are financially or physically able to carry and deliver a child. The hospital bill to give birth is, on average, $7,000- 11,000. For someone who is struggling to stay on their feet, that is a fortune. In comparison, the average cost for an abortion in the US is about $500. However, if a woman does not have this choice, she may end up on the streets, unable to provide for herself. Underlying health conditions can also make it very dangerous to carry and deliver a child. If a woman is aware of this risk, what are her options?

There is only one, have the baby and deal with the potential health consequences.

To me, the sickest part of the bill is that it does not make any ANY exceptions for rape or incest. No woman wants to carry, nor should have to carry, the child of a rapist or a child conceived with hate. There is absolutely nothing in the bill about being able to sue a rapist or a man responsible for an unwanted pregnancy. 

The Texas government should have considered the consequences or made the accommodations necessary for this extreme punishment. For example, harsher punishments for rapists, an increase in pay for social workers, CPS workers, orphan caregivers, in addition to providing easily accessible or free birth control. None of this was provided for. 

Banning abortions will not eliminate them, it will only make them unsafe. The closest state a woman in Texas can get an abortion is New Mexico which is for some a 10+ hour drive, and even then it is not promised that the procedure will be performed correctly or safely. 

For many reasons, I am disappointed.

But for many more reasons, I am not surprised.

Our rights and decisions as women have been stripped and handed over to men. I feel caged and manipulated by the world that was meant to support me and I am scared that this is our future. In what world will these men stop telling us what we can do with OUR bodies.