ABORTION LAW IN TEXAS

ABORTION LAW IN TEXAS
The legislation of Texas passed the House Bill 2 into law in January 2016. Passing the law is a menace because it will cause the closure of some of the abortion clinics and make life harder for the women seeking an abortion. The lawmakers of Texas support this bill claiming that it will protect the health of women. The Supreme Court doesn’t support the bill citing that it violates the rights of women. The Democrats support the court to block the bill saying that it is unconstitutional.
The women had a legal right to seek for abortion in the early stages of the pregnancy as ruled by the Court in 1973 in Roe v. Wade decision. During this period abortion was legalized, but some states still had their restrictions on the practice. Texas had the restriction that seemed harsh to the health institutions and the women. The recent law requires that the abortion clinics have the minimum requirements and standard surgical equipment that all other hospitals have. This means that most of the clinics will have to close down because of the expenses and only about 19 will remain in the whole of Texas(america.aljazeera.com). The law also requires that only women who are minors will be allowed to seek for abortion and must provide proof by issuing their identity documents to the health practitioners for confirmation. The supporters claimed that the law was meant to protect the health of the women. The Supreme Court refused these restrictions citing that the women already had an identity and needed not prove to anyone.

The laws also violated the constitutional rights of the women. Even though these laws were set to protect the woman’s health, they were a burden to the woman and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court made a temporary ruling to allow the clinics affected by the law to remain open to the public. The Texas lawmakers argued that the law will make abortion safer and protect the health of the women. The court denied this statement and said the law made abortion harder to access and will make women turn to illegal procedures which are unsafe to terminate their pregnancies. Justice Ruth Bader stated that the Texas lawmakers lacked evidence to prove that the restriction would protect the women. She stated that abortion is safer than childbirth and cited many studies to support her claim.(www.cosmopolitan.com)
The Democrats were on the same page with the court, and they supported the blocking of the restrictions that limit abortion in Texas. They claimed that the law that required abortion doctors to have some privileges for them to admit women in the hospital would have to loss of jobs and close to half of the clinics in Texas would have closed down. This could cause inconvenience to the women who will have to travel long distances to get medical care. They, therefore, persuaded the court to consider the consequences of the law and make a ruling to stop it.(www.ontheissues.org)
Recently the Republicans proposed that abortion should be banned and the unborn child is given a right to life. They supported the change of the constitution to cater for the life of the unborn child. The amendment will not allow public revenue to be used in funding any organization that advocates for abortion or funding any program that promotes abortion. The Republicans also wanted the judicial protection of the right of people who perform an abortion. The Republicans also opposed the initiative to have school-based clinics which offer referrals and abortions. They also supported a move to ensure that pregnant women get proper care and support inclusive of the unborn child. Despite banning abortion, no action would be taken either on those women who rightfully present themselves for abortion due to health reasons or the person who offers the abortion.(www.ontheissues.org)
In my opinion, Abortion should be banned altogether unless it is very necessary such in circumstances where the woman’s life or the infant’s life is in danger, and the only solution is termination of the pregnancy. Legalizing abortion leads to increase of sexual activity among the teenagers because they no longer fear pregnancy. The sexual activities among the youth result in sexually transmitted diseases which cause severe health problems and even death. The risk of spreading HIV/AIDS and pregnancies out of wedlock is also increased. Instead of using state revenue to fund abortion activities it should be used create awareness about the risks of abortion through campaigns and education programs to enlighten people on the matter. The unborn child’s right to life is violated through the act of abortion. The Supreme Court should not have ruled against the abortion restriction of Texas so as to discourage women from getting unplanned pregnancies. The government of Texas should promote other alternatives such as adoption of children instead of abortion. The lawmakers lacked another way of convincing the jury about the bill, and the Supreme Court thought it was not ok and was a way of holding the women captive of their wombs and proving that sex has consequences which are the child.
Works Cited
“Democratic Party on Abortion.” Democratic Party on Abortion, www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Democratic_Party_Abortion.htm.
Smothers, Hannah. “Why Republican Lawmakers in Texas Seem Out of Touch With Reality.” Cosmopolitan, 30 Nov. 2016, www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a60676/texas-republicans-responds-hb2-ruling/.
statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-abortion-laws.html.
“Republican Party on Abortion.” Republican Party on Abortion, www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Republican_Party_Abortion.htm.
“Democrats Urge Supreme Court to Overturn Texas Abortion Law.” Democrats Urge Overturning Texas Abortion Law | Al Jazeera America, america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/1/5/democrats-urge-scotus-to-overturn-tx-abortion-law.html.