US Abortion Ban?!

Nearly 50 years ago the supreme court passed the landmark decision to protect a pregnant woman’s right to choose whether or not she would have an abortion. This law has not only allowed women to feel in control of their bodies, but has also acted as their personal right to privacy. However, on the 14th of May, news broke that Alabama senators passed a law seeking to ban abortion with no exceptions to rape or incest. The law has also set a prison sentence of 99 years for any doctor who performs an abortion, a sentence that is longer than the sentence of a rapist. This led to a worldwide outrage with countless individuals expressing their shock and disappointment on social media.

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Abortion has always been a contested topic within politics. The common question always emerges: are you pro-life? or are you pro-choice? While it's debatable whether these labels have caused more harm than good everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. But, the most troubling thing I have with the abortion ban is how it was passed by 25 male senators.

Personally, I viewed it as completely ignorant that not one of these men would

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have a female’s interest in mind, whatever the situation may be. Of course, I see that the argument most commonly used is in fact that an individual is ‘pro-life.’ In this case, man or woman, abortion should be illegal in the mind of this individual. Yet, it’s ironic that in the case of abortion being pro-life is capitalised on, but in the case of gun violence many of these pro-lifers refuse to

back gun control. In fact, the state of Alabama, the one that claims we need to save these human lives continues to hold the death penalty. It seems as through the sanctity of life argument itself is used as an attempt to make society empathise with human life but refuses to make exceptions for rape victims, victims of incest, families struggling financially, teenage girls, and many other women struggling with considering abortion.

He shouldn't be punished for the rest of his life for “twenty minutes of action.” - Brock Turner's father.

One incident that I was immediately drawn to was the case of Brock Turner, a student athlete who attended Stanford University. On January 18th 2015 he was convicted of three felonies which included sexually assaulting an intoxicated and unconscious 22-year-old woman. He then fled the scene after being caught and chased by two international students. Just recently, he has been found guilty of the charges and was sentenced to 6-month jail sentence. Not only does this reflect the lack of compassion and empathy a judge and jury possess for victims of sexual assault, abuse and rape. It also expresses how society chooses

to protect young white men, who are deemed “capable of great things.” It is bad enough that there are people in our society who won’t hold men and boys like Brock Turner accountable, but it is even worse to strip a woman of her right to choose to have an abortion after such a traumatic and life-altering event. A verdict like this shows how outdated our society’s mentality must be to allow a young man the privilege of not serving real time and forcing him to consider his actions.

Throughout history women have overcome many hardships to get where they are today: gaining the right to vote, the right to have equal pay, to own property, to an education and to bodily autonomy. To act on this law that abortion should be banned not only prevents a female from making her own choice but also takes our society a step in the wrong direction for women's rights.

Pass on the message,

Miss Minority