Currently, Missouri only has one abortion clinic in the state when it used to have five in 2008. With Missouri's new abortion restriction, abortion clinics must receive approval from a health clinic within a fifteen minute distance in order to accept patients for abortion. With this change, women may need to travel long distances to reach the clinic or search for out-of-state alternatives. In addition to Missouri, other states such as Wyoming and North Dakota only have one abortion clinic. Despite abortions becoming safer over time, some seek to restrict access because of fears of complications in the process. It is especially concerning since the decision of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade could be overturned should Kavanaugh be confirmed as a justice.
Questions:
1. What would happen if some states started banning abortion?
2. Why might someone support banning or restricting abortion?
3. What values are associated with an abortion?
I feel that people who push to restrict abortions are actually encouraging damage to the female body. Whether or not abortions are legal, people are going to find some way to do them, whether those methods are safe or not. Self administered abortions can lead to serious injury, or even death for the woman involved. Restricting access to clinics only creates a larger scale reproductive health issue. I believe all Americans are entitled to good health care, and a woman's reproductive health falls under that category. It is cruel to have one clinic in a state the size of Missouri, and does nothing whatsoever to change the probability that women will get pregnant and may need to abort. If people are against abortion, they should promote contraceptives and ways to prevent pregnancy in the first place, rather than eliminate healthy and legal options once pregnant.
ReplyDeleteWith states starting to ban abortion it would become much more dangerous for pregnant women to receive the abortion and more and more women would seek treatment outside of the U.S., which could be more risky. With one clinic in states it would make it nearly impossible to get an abortion, which seems very unfair, and adds more challenges to women who are already going through a lot. Regarding question #2, by supporting the banning of abortion that may mean that person believes that a human life begins once there is conception. So, they might support it because if they are considered to be humans from conception, then abortion takes away their individual rights without a say in it.
ReplyDeleteWith multiple states now only having one abortion clinic, it seems as if these states already have banned abortion. Doing this no doubt on purpose, these states and those who support this decision most often seem to argue that abortion is murder. Another popular argument includes that an unborn baby are still human beings, and thus have the right to life. Nevertheless the reason for this belief, if many states followed Missouri, Wyoming, and North Dakota's example, it will no doubt become very difficult for women to have abortions and may even lead some to try dangerous abortion-inducing drugs. In general, reducing the amount of clinics, will not change the possibility for the decision of abortion to cross a woman's mind. The situation only may become more dangerous not only for the unborn child, but for the mother.
ReplyDeleteI think that if abortion clinics were banned in some states it wouldn't lower the abortion rate, rather increase illegal abortion. The illegal abolitions are much more dangerous than legal ones and can put the women in more danger. I feel like if a woman already chose that she wants to abort, she will try to abort it legally or illegally and doing it illegally will lead to more health complications. I believe that since abortions are much more common and the legal process is very safe women should be allowed to choose and not have to put the mother or the child's life in danger.
ReplyDeletePeople who believe that abortion should not be legal under any circumstance (who of which appear to be the ones in charge of closing down these abortion clinics) place the lives of unborn fetuses over the lives of women. While being pro-life is a valid opinion, people who want to go as far as ban abortion only puts women in more danger. The decision to have an abortion comes from various factors, and having abortion clinics only allows these to be done safely. Closing down abortion clinics not only takes away a woman's choice to her own body, but it also forces them to rely on dangerous approaches to getting one. Many women decide to get an abortion because of it being either a product of rape or is harmful to their health, so once someone has decided on getting one, closing abortion clinics will not stop them from going through with that decision. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and decisions, but taking the measures to close abortion clinics interferes with that right.
ReplyDeleteRoe V. Wade set that women are legally allowed to get an abortion in the first trimester of a pregnancy, period. These restrictions placed on abortion clinics are unconstitutional because there is no feasible reasoning as to why there are such strict restrictions other than to restrict access to abortions for women. States like Missouri should be taken to court over the restrictions that are placed by the states. I do hope that this changes, but I am not hopeful.
ReplyDeleteIf states banned abortion, or continued along this line of policy of restricting abortion clinics to such an extent that they can no longer operate, it will encourage women to either spend exuberant amounts of money procuring an abortion in other places, or having illegal, unsafe abortions. Just making abortion illegal will not remove the demand for it, and any alternative DIY abortion methods are far less safe for women than services abortion clinics can provide, so if the state really wants to promote the safety of women having abortions, they should allow abortion clinics to continue to function. Either that or ban coat hangers. Someone may oppose abortion due to moral reasons, because it involves "killing" something that could have possibly become a human. Some may impose their personal moral opposition to abortion to others. The core value associated with abortion is autonomy, a woman's right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term, however abortion shouldn't be a moral argument, it should be viewed in the practical terms that women will have abortions regardless of whether its legal, and legal abortions are safer, easier and more accessible for all women.
ReplyDeleteAs of current day, like Stefan had said, the Roe versus Wade supreme court case enables women to legally have access to abortions. Therefore, restrictions should not be placed on abortion clinics and more abortion clinic should exist within each state because all women have the right to use them for the purpose of abortion. Like stated above, restricting the locations and prevalence of abortion clinics will only lead to more women wanting to perform abortions by themselves which is unsafe and thus would not only remove the life of the fetus but also put the life of the mother at great risk. In this sense, abortion is related to the values of life and safety. Clinics provide the safety needed to perform abortions while abortion itself is split into the values of life and choice. When one chooses to perform abortion, they value their choice over the life of their fetus. On the other hand, when one chooses to not perform an abortion they value life as they are willing to preserve the fetus. However, contrary to Roe v. Wade, the movement from removing or restricting clinics comes from the idea that a fetus may be considered a living human being which does not grant the right to take their life in abortion because the fetus do not yet have the choice. In this context, abortion could be restricted because the fetus should be given a chance to live; however, it may only lead to more outbursts. Ultimately, I believe that abortion clinics should not be banned by states because they not only provide the opportunity for safety but they also provide the opportunity for more jobs within the United States. Moreover, it should be the mother’s choice since they carry the fetus and the fetus may or may not even be considered living.
ReplyDeleteIf states started banning abortions, the practice of "DIY" abortions will be more prevalent. These at-home abortions are very very dangerous. Banning abortions in certain states will not give women a safe way to abort an unwanted child. People who support banning abortion are "pro-life" meaning that they believe the unborn child has it's own set of individual rights that need to be protected. In their eyes, having an abortion is unjust and is considered manslaughter. I believe that abortion clinics should not be banned by states because it will ensure that women will be able to safely abort an unwanted child and women should have the choice of whether or not they want to continue a pregnancy. We should not restrict this right from women in general but especially not from women who are impregnated due to incidences such as rape.
ReplyDeleteEven if states banned abortion, the demand for abortion will not decrease, and this could mean that women seeking abortion will resort to non-medical and unsafe means. It can be possible to have both an abortion ban and decrease the demand for abortions if states offered good sex ed for youth as well as access to birth control supplies. However, the states the generally are against abortion are also against funding any form of birth control other than abstinence.
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