NEW YORK, Oct 15 (IPS) – The right to abortion is a human rights issue that no government agency, court, local and state legislature or anyone else has the right to violate or impede in any form. It is a fundamental right that every woman should be able to exercise with impunity, only in consultation with her doctor, who acts on the basis of his/her professional ethics and responsibility.
The right to abortion, or, as Vice President Harris put it in her debate with Donald Trump, “a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body,” is an indisputable human right and may be the most critical issue that was discussed during the 2024 elections. campaign.
It is an important issue of bodily autonomy, which extends not only to abortion, but also to the right of people with disabilities to control what happens to their bodies, the choice to participate in organ donation and the right to keep medical decisions private.
Moreover, it is an important problem in healthcare; Pregnancy complications such as placental abruption can be life-threatening, and abortion is the only way to save the pregnant woman’s life. Pre-existing health problems can seriously worsen during pregnancy and even result in death.
It is an issue of women’s rights – including the right to vote, the right to free movement and the right to live free from violence. And yet, during his presidency, Trump hand-selected three Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade and support states that would enact abortion bans without restrictions, including incest and rape.
The moral bankruptcy of the Republicans on women’s rights
The Republican Party’s obsession with abortion and, as a result, forced pregnancy knows no bounds. For example, each year in the state of Michigan, approximately 700 minors must obtain parental consent or a court order to obtain an abortion. In 2022, Michiganders were guaranteed access to abortion under the state constitution, but state law still requires parental consent for people under 18 seeking an abortion.
As Bridge Michigan notes, this consent requirement – which dates back to 1991 – “forces some youth to face abusive parents and others to go to court to obtain a ‘judicial bypass’ waiver instead.”
A March 36 ACLU report, In Harm’s Way: How Michigan’s Forced Parental Consent for Abortion Law Hurts Young People, points out that “When a young person does not involve a parent, it is often rooted in concerns about their safety and well-being.” One caregiver said a young client told her, “I can’t tell my parents because they will literally hit me, kick me out and I’ll end up on the street.”
In addition, many young people do not have access to a parent or legal guardian, forcing them to go through the judicial bypass process, where they face a series of logistical hurdles, “including finding a lawyer, scheduling and attending hearings , taking time off.” school, and securing transportation to and from court.”
In short, this reactionary and archaic law threatens the health and safety of young people, and should be immediately repealed in every state where this law is enforced to ensure the safety and dignity of young people.
The horrific consequences of the abortion ban
There are many heartbreaking stories of many young women who sought abortions but ended up dying because they could not have a normal abortion under a doctor’s supervision. In Georgia, the deaths of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller have been blamed on the state’s recently lifted abortion ban.
Thurman died of sepsis; she had had an abortion out of state but had not completely expelled the fetal tissue, which required a dilation and curettage (D&C) that Georgia had criminalized with few exceptions. Miller similarly failed to fully expel fetal tissue after taking abortion pills and died from a lethal combination of painkillers after suffering for days as her children watched.
According to her family, Miller refused to see a doctor “due to current laws regarding pregnancies and abortions.” The families of Thurman and Miller, as well as many pro-choice advocates, have blamed their deaths on the state’s restrictive bans. And while Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert CI McBurney struck down the highly restrictive six-week abortion ban on September 30, the Supreme Court was able to stay the ruling, reinstating the six-week ban.
According to ProPublica, Georgia’s four Planned Parenthood clinics have since been inundated with calls to schedule appointments, including from women in neighboring states where restrictive bans are still in place. While Republican Governor Brian Kemp spoke out against the ruling, stating, “…the will of Georgians and their representatives has been overridden by the personal convictions of one judge,” the flood of appointments clearly shows that the restrictive law does not reflect the will belongs to the people most affected, but exclusively to the predominantly chauvinistic male legislators who will never have to make the decision about their own bodily autonomy.
I stand firmly with the women of Georgia and fully support the ruling of Judge McBurney, who firmly stated in his ruling: “The Court holds that, until the pregnancy is viable, a woman’s right to make decisions about her body and her health remains private and protected, that is, remains her business and her business alone.”
Fueling other regressive policies
What’s even more disturbing is that many politicians and anti-choice activists are using their anti-abortion stance to fuel other regressive policies, such as child marriage. Last year, in a debate in Wyoming over ending child marriage, the state’s Republican Party promoted an “analysis” by Capitol Watch for Wyoming Families that stated, “Marriage is the only institution in the Wyoming Statute designed to keep the father and mother of a child under the rules of the law. under the same roof and cooperate in raising the children they conceive together… Since young men and women may be physically capable of conceiving and bearing children before the age of 16, marriage MUST remain open to them for the sake of those children.”
Shameless GOP lawmakers are more concerned about the home lives of theoretical future children than they are about the living, breathing children who may be pregnant as victims of sexual abuse and whose parents are abandoning them by forcing them into marriages where they are not emotionally be ready for it or maybe not. even want.
As State Rep. Liz Storer (D) stated in 2023, “In Wyoming, you can get married younger than you can legally consent to sex. Think about what that means. A man rapes a child. Is the man accused of rape? if the child is forced to marry him.”
And while the Wyoming bill raising the minimum age to 18 (although 16 and 17 year olds can marry with court and parental consent) continues to circulate this vile and disingenuous argument across the country, that at every opportunity must be resisted. .
It is difficult to overstate the critical importance of women’s right to abortion in this election, not only because women should have the freedom to decide for themselves their biological needs, but also their freedom and autonomy to live their lives and to start families as they see fit. and desirable.
Former President Trump and his conspirators in the Senate, House of Representatives, state and local legislatures are determined to deprive women of their freedom. They are doing just that: a violation of human rights in every sense of the word, and it must be condemned in the strongest terms.
No woman should ever believe Trump, who trumpets his false statements that he will not implement a national abortion ban. Every woman should remember his bigotry and dishonesty in handling virtually every issue during his first term as president. If he is re-elected, women, who make up 50 percent of the electorate, will lose their right to vote and their freedom, which is the foundation of the U.S. Constitution.
On the other hand, Kamala Harris was the first Vice President in history to visit a Planned Parenthood clinic, has strongly supported restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade, has spoken to the women of this country about this crucial issue and is a strong supporter of what women rightly demand: the freedom to make decisions about their own body.
In this presidential election, there is only one option to uphold women’s right to abortion, and that is a fundamental human rights issue that America has been proud of for more than two centuries. In this crucial election, only Kamala Harris will protect the sanctity of human rights, of which women’s right to abortion is inextricably linked.
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs. He taught courses on international negotiations and Middle Eastern studies.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
