Austin District Judge Sam Sparks did his best to overturn the law with a temporary order but it was overturned by the 5th Circuit Court of appeals. His
grounds for the order were that it violated the first amendment rights of
physicians and was constitutionally vague.
I have many issues with this law. First, why does the state
think it is their right to tell any woman what they want to do with their own
bodies or tell doctors who are intelligent, certified and qualified who are there to help women make sound decisions on medical treatment/care. What about women who want to get one because of domestic abuse? There
are also families out there that make a very hard decision to end a pregnancy
because they learn the child will not make it to full term or will have to live
their lives in unbearable pain and wont have a quality life because of it.
There are many reasons people decide to get an abortion.
Rick Perry was quoted in the Texas Tribune by saying, “a
victory for all who stand in defense of life…ensures that every Texas woman
seeking an abortion has the facts about the life she is carrying, and
understands the devastating impact of such a life-ending decision.”
Typically, when a woman goes in to have an abortion she is
already pretty clear on what she is going in there to do. Forcing doctors to
give a description of what the embryo/fetus looks like and turn up the volume
so they can hear the fetal heartbeat is disgraceful and unnecessary. This is
already traumatic enough of an experience, why humiliate them more with
invasive and unnecessary procedures. Then make them wait an additional 24 hours
before they can have the procedure done. If the doctor does not comply with this law they will be fined $10,000.
Peter J Durkin, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Gulf
Coast showed his disappointment with the ruling when he said, “allows Texas
politicians to shame and demean women and tell doctors how to practice
medicine…every Texan should be outraged that politicians are interfering with
their most private medical decisions.”
I believe there are women out there that may use it as a
form of birth control as well, but don’t punish the women who truly do know the
risks and have methodically made the decision. The goal should be to limit the
number of unwanted pregnancies. This is a whole other issue though. They have
made it almost impossible for women to seek medical attention who are either
low income or without insurance.
Something needs to be done to overturn this law. It is an
outrage!
If you would like to read more about this law please refer
to this site:
Here are my responses to a few of your arguments:
ReplyDelete1: The State cannot tell a woman what to do with her own body
This is true. But we are talking about two bodies here, two completely genetically unique bodies. The state imposes many regulations on what we can and can’t do to someone else’s body.
2: There are legitimate reasons why people get abortions; these people should not have to go through a sonogram
Less than 10% of abortions are performed to save the life of the mother, or due to rape/incest, or anything like that. The overwhelming majority of abortions are convenience abortions. If we decide that the 10% should be allowed to have abortions with no restrictions, does that mean the 90% should be allowed to as well? Should we overturn a law because there are exceptions to it? If we did that, we would have to overturn every law because there are always exceptions to every law.
3: The Sonogram law is unnecessary because women walking into an abortion clinic already know what they’re doing.
Do they really know what they’re doing? Then why do many women change their minds after seeing a sonogram? And what exactly do they see that makes them change their minds? What is your opinion about those women?
4: Your word choices
You said that having an abortion is a “traumatic” experience. If abortion is not the taking of an innocent life, why should it be “traumatic?” You also said that “Forcing doctors to give a description of what the embryo/fetus looks like and turn up the volume so they can hear the fetal heartbeat is disgraceful and unnecessary.” What about a woman hearing her child’s heartbeat is disgraceful? Would you be opposed to this same procedure if the woman was not seeking an abortion?
My critique comes down to this: Why should women not be informed about what is in their bodies? Why should they not see a sonogram? What are you afraid that they might see?
While reading this post it immediately struck a chord with me. While I personally agree with most of what my classmate is saying, there are things about this law I support. I agree that there are many reasons why a woman chooses to have an abortion but like the post says there are women who use abortion as a form of birth control. I feel like maybe we should limit this law to women who have had more than a certain amount of abortions. I feel like these women need to take more precautions instead of constantly getting themselves in this same position. Maybe I am biased because I am completely against abortions but at the same time I believe in the right to women's privacy and what they choose to do with their own bodies. I believe that not everyone should be required to do this before having an abortion but in reality there are many women who do need this law. I agree that the goal should be to limit the number of unwanted pregnancies and maybe this law will help that.
ReplyDeleteI am in complete agreement with Ms. King. I find it outrageous that the government feels the need to put women through such a painful and traumatic process because of a decision about her body and life. We cannot assume that most women who have abortions took that decision lightly. Having a child is a big responsibility and it is up to the woman to decide if she is ready or not. I do recognize that there are many irresponsible women using abortion as a sort of birth control, but this does not mean we should punish and degrade all women because of it. There are multiple reasons why a woman chooses to have an abortion, but that is her choice, and she should not be punished for it in any way. Abortions already have great emotional impact on a woman, there is no reason to make it even worst. The government should not have allowed this to pass, to me this should be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
ReplyDelete