AP Draft #2

The United States has figured out how to travel back in time. Currently, many states are

going out of their way to restrict women from obtaining abortions, just like in the mid-1800s. By

placing extremely restrictive laws on abortion, certain states are forcing women to have children

that they do not want to have, leading to serious consequences in terms of their health and quality

of life.

During the mid-1800s, abortion was outlawed across all of the United States.​ It is

believed that the movement behind this was that many “native” Anglo-Saxon were having

abortions performed whereas foreign women were not. This led to the fear of the fall of the

Anglo-Saxon Race (Beisel). In order to prevent this from happening, the United States decided to

criminalize any type of abortion services.

It was not until ​January 22nd, 1973, well over a hundred years later, that abortion would

finally be legalized in the United States. On this day, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its

decision on ​Roe v. Wade​, a case that challenged a Texas law that banned abortions unless the

woman’s life was in danger. The Court ruled that a woman’s choice to terminate her pregnancy

fell under the Fourteenth Amendment, the constitutional right to privacy (Mively 614).

This was a gigantic win for women’s reproductive rights. However in 1989, another

controversial abortion case was presented to the Court, ​Webster v. Reproductive Health Services.

In this case, the Court upheld a regulation in Missouri that required women to receive viability

tests before undergoing an abortion (Mively 621). This sent a message to all states that they

could find loopholes around ​Roe v. Wade​ to regulate abortion services in their states. Since this

decision, states that are dominated by anti-abortion politicians have attempted undermine ​Roe​ by
enacting extremely restrictive abortion laws. These include limits on where you can obtain an

abortion, who can perform them, who is allowed to obtain them (with or without permission

from family), whether or not insurance companies can cover abortion, and many other ridiculous

laws. Although all of these are extremely pressing issues, it is out of the scope of this paper to try

to solve every aspect of anti-abortion politics in the United States. Therefore, I will only focus on

the inconsistency on gestational age requirements throughout all states in America, and its

negative effect on women seeking to terminate their pregnancies.

Gestational age is a term used to describe how far along in a pregnancy a woman is,

measured in weeks from the start of her last menstrual cycle to the current date (MedlinePlus).

States have different limits as to how far along in her pregnancy that a woman is allowed to

obtain an abortion. These limits range from as little as 6 weeks, to no limits at all. Many people

have different beliefs as to when it is appropriate to terminate a pregnancy. Some of these beliefs

are based on religious views or based on scientific theories. There is an abundant amount of

scientific research that has been done on fetal development, however there is no consensus as to

when it is ethical to terminate a pregnancy.

The majority of states in America require that abortions be performed before a fetus is

viable Viability is defined as the point where the fetus is able to survive outside of its mother’s

womb. ​Many studies have been conducted on when a fetus is viable, some saying that it is after

the 25th week while others say at the 20th week (Peterfy 608). These discrepancies lead to

inconsistency regarding gestational age limits across the nation, leading to greater struggles for

women to obtain abortions.

 The governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, recently signed a bill that bans abortion after a

fetal heartbeat can be detected, except in cases of rape, incest, or if the pregnancy is

life-threatening. This is as early as 6-7 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy (Advanced Women’s

Imaging). The problem with this is that most women do not find out they are pregnant until 6

weeks into their pregnancy. Therefore, this bill almost completely abolishes a woman’s option to

terminate her pregnancy–a blatant attack on ​Roe​ and its supporters. Reynold’s logic behind

signing the bill was as follows: “​if death is determined when a heart stops beating, then doesn't a

beating heart indicate life?” However, the Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in

Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research conducted a study that concluded that death

should be determined by total-brain death (Sarbey). The brain’s autonomic nervous system

controls all involuntary functions of the body, such as a heartbeat. A fetus’s nervous system is

not able to perform body functions until the 28th week of pregnancy. Reynold’s decision to sign

this bill was completely uneducated and made through her bias of being an anti-abortion

advocate.

States such as Utah, Arizona, North Carolina, and many others have implemented a 20

week ban on abortion due to the theory that this is the point where a fetus begins to feel pain.

However, fetal development is a complicated process that works in stages. Just like children go

through puberty at different times and rates, a fetuses develop at different times and rates as well.

Dr. Anne Davis, an OB/GYN and medical director for Physicians for Reproductive Health, states

that there is no conclusive scientific evidence that pain receptor pathways are fully developed by

20 weeks.
 These disparities in the beliefs as to when a pregnancy can be ethically terminated leads

to many obstacles for women living in states with shorter gestational age limits. Many women

are forced to travel far in order to obtain abortions if their state has restrictive laws such as these.

Due to inadequate access to far travel and the expenses of it, women are not able to get an

abortion, and are forced to carry out with their pregnancies. However, if they are really pressed

to obtain an abortion, some women resort to extreme measures–similar to pre-​Roe​ times. ​In fact,

a study conducted Texas that resulted estimated that 100,000-200,000 women had attempted to

self-induce an abortion in that state (Grossman). ​These did this through pills bought from

Mexico, ineffective herb remedies, or through violent blunt trauma to the abdomen. All of these

means in self-inducing abortion are extremely detrimental to the health and safety of women,

however they feel as if they have no other choice.

Women are obviously going to keep obtaining abortions regardless of the restrictive laws

being placed on them. However, the means in which they are doing so are putting their health

and wellbeing at risk. Rather than choosing to recognize the negative effects women are facing,

anti-abortion politicians still do not back down. Their ridiculous laws have not limited the

amount of abortions being performed, they have just decreased the safety of them.

Additionally, most women decide to have an abortion because it is not a good time to

have a baby in their life due to socioeconomic struggles, continuing education the pregnancy is

bad for their health, or they simply just do not want to have a baby. ​A study published in the

American Journal of Public Health concluded that laws that restrict abortions may lead to

worsened economic outcomes for women (Foster). Women who received abortions were less

likely to face the socioeconomic hardships to a much lower degree than women who were denied
the procedure. By restricting their rights, states are forcing women to carry unwanted

pregnancies to term and bring a baby into their unstable lives, leading to a poor quality of life for

the mother and child.

There have been efforts to each these financial burdens women face such through

fundraising events and charities used to fund procedures for women in need. The National

Network of Abortion Funds helps cover abortion costs for women in 38 states. Although these

might help some women, they do not reach out to everyone. The issues women are facing are

due to the short gestational age limits on abortion and sadly, these type of fundraising solutions

are not easing their troubles. In order to enact change, there needs to be an agreement on when a

fetus is ethically able to be aborted. A conclusive scientific study should be done to allow states

to come in agreement.