One common misconception about restrictive abortion laws is that they are just about abortion; they are not. They are about taking away a woman’s right to choose what happens to her body, and in that, they are succeeding. Lawmaker’s have been given power, and with it they are stripping us of the basic human right of control over one’s body. Earlier this month, Missouri “enacted one of the nation’s most stringent abortion waiting periods,” according to The Huffington Post, and it forces women to wait three days from the time of their consultation to get an abortion.
Women have worked tirelessly for decades to gain gender equality. While much has been done to achieve this equality, there are still many obstacles to overcome, more specifically, reproductive rights. State governments have made numerous laws surrounding abortions over recent years, stopping women from having full control over their bodies.
When the new law is put into effect, women will be required to wait 72 hours following their consultation to have a pregnancy terminated. Missouri will be joining Utah and South Dakota, the only other states with 72 hour waiting periods, according to The New York Times.
In order to end her pregnancy, a woman must involuntarily take three extra days to ‘think about it,’ in lawmaker’s hopes that she’ll change her mind.
In addition to their newly longer waiting period, Missouri also continues to “[require] physicians to provide women information about medical risks and alternatives to abortion and offer them an opportunity for an ultrasound of the fetus,” said The Huffington Post. Access to this information should be offered to the woman, but not forced upon her. Shoving anti-abortion paraphernalia in a woman’s face as she makes the extremely personal choice to end her pregnancy is wrong and cruel.
Efforts should never be made to stop a woman from making her own choices regarding her health. The choice to end a pregnancy needs to be made solely by the woman herself, not by lawmakers who will never have to live with the consequences of that choice. Rather than stomp out women’s call for change, these men “should feel obligated to aid in the battle for women’s rights because it is an issue of humanity,” said UT writing major junior Connor Duff.
Missouri plans on taking this new law seriously and will not allow any exceptions, even for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, according to The New York Times. Women deserve to be able to make decisions about their own bodies, especially in the event of incest or rape. Victims of sexual abuse should not have to be further traumatized by being forced to wait three full days to end an unwanted pregnancy.
Even though an amendment allowing for rape and incest exceptions was suggested, it was refused under the argument that it “diminished the value of some lives depending on how they were conceived,” The Huffington Post stated.
Supporters of these strict new anti-abortion measures are failing to take the well being of the woman involved into account.
While it is of utmost importance that rape and incest victims have the ability to end a pregnancy, all women deserve to make their own choice in the matter. Missouri has done all they can to stop women from having abortions performed. The state only has one licensed abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood, located in St. Louis. Because of their very limited options, women are forced to travel either to this location, or go outside of the state in order to meet with a doctor; “an extra delay could force them to either make two trips or spend additional money on hotels,” according to The Huffington Post.
Regulations surrounding reproduction and birth control have always existed. A few of these regulations may have had positive impacts on some women, but it seems that for the most part they cause severe emotional pain. Missouri’s actions are disappointing to say the least, and are a huge step in the wrong direction for gender equality and women’s rights.
By allowing government to make important decisions regarding our reproductive health, we as women lose our control over our own bodies. There needs to be a much stronger female presence in government so that our voices will be heard, and will no longer be drowned out by intolerant, oblivious men. The time to act is now; we must work together to stop other states from following in Missouri’s footsteps in order to continue down the road to gender equality.
Emily Silverman can be reached at emily.silverman@theminaretonline.com