Who is the Human Life Protection Act Really Protecting?

Abortion: A topic everyone in America seems to become an expert on the moment it is introduced into the conversation. But, what do you really know about abortion in America and the current legislation surrounding it? 

On May 15, 2019 Alabama Governor, Kay Ivey, signed into law the Human Life Protection Act. This bill, introduced by two men in the Alabama house and senate, aims to make it a felony for doctors in Alabama to perform abortions, with an exception if the mother’s life is in serious danger. This is a near-total abortion ban. Under this new law, if a woman were to be raped and  then recieve an abortion, her doctor would face more prison time than her rapist. Under this new law, if a woman is found guilty for her own miscarriage, she faces prison time.

 It is inhumane to punish women for making decisions about their own bodies, especially in cases of rape or incest. We, as a society founded on freedom and equality, have moved past the idea of women being solely viewed as breeders, so if a woman does not want a child, then she should not be forced, by men who have never been pregnant or given birth, to have one. Men should not be allowed to have such a detrimental influence, specifically in congress, on something that does not pertain to them or their bodies.This way of thinking that men like Terri Collins and Clyde Chambliss, creators of the Human Life Protection Act, encompass, is not only backwards and arrogant, but it shows a blatant disregard for anyone who is not white and privileged and male. 

This is once again, a prime example of society allowing women’s choices and bodies to be ruled by a nescient patriarchy.

In my state, 17.2% of residents live beneath the federal poverty line, 76 different public schools are failing, and comprehensive sex education is nonexistent. The entire state of Alabama has been and is still being run by a systemically racist state government. People of color are condemned to poverty-stricken areas that lack adequate educational and sustainable resources, ultimately, trapping them in an infinite cycle of discrimintion and inequality. This has led to explicit white privilege throughout the state, and that has now shown itself as a leading factor in this new abortion legislation. Wealthy, white men have decided that is is “humane” to outlaw one of the only affordable, well known, and safely accessible forms of contraception.This should outrage you. There is a prevalent lack of care and knowledge in my state’s law making body, and it is catalyzing the same effect in many other states across the nation. We cannot let ignorance lead us back to the twentieth century. 

At my public middle and high schools in Alabama I never once recieved any form of “sex education.” I grew up having been taught by my parents that you could either use a condom, get on birth control, or go get an abortion. I was never taught of the many other ways to have safe and protected sex. Sadly, this is the story for most girls growing up in Alabama, especially in the poorly run and funded public school system. This lack of compendious knowledge regarding options when having sex inevitably leads to unwanted pregnancy, and for the large majority of the state who is poor and lives in underfunded and unsafe areas, abortion ends up being one of the most humane options for both the mother and child. This abortion ban is explicit systemic socioeconimic discrimination.

While this ban has been passed into law, it does not go into effect quite yet. As of right now, abortion is still legal in Alabama, and Planned Parenthood is actively expanding their services and facilities to other cities throughout the state. President and CEO of the company, Staci Fox, said to Frontline news that their facilities are planning a contingency program that will get women to the closest abortion facilitlies if the law does go into effect in the next few years; however, as of right now the closest abortion clinic would be in Illinois. Fox said even if the lawsuits brought up by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are not able to halt this new law, Alabama Planned Parenthood facility doors are “staying open no matter what.” While this is reassuring to hear since Planned Parenthood provides many other integral health services to the community, it sadly does not change the fact that if this law is implemented, women will begin turning to unsafe and unsanitary options for abortion, because they have lost that accessibility and affordability that is, as of right now, available to them.       

This abortion ban is explicit systemic socioeconomic discrimination.

There is currently lots of action being taken by both pro-choice interest groups, civil rights interest groups, and Alabama abortion clinics to stop or lessen the blow of this ban, but women in Alabama are still being directly and immediately impacted. The Reproductive Health Clinic in Montgomery, the capital of Alabama, reports recieving multiple calls a day, since the bill was signed, that typically follow along the lines of “Are you still doing abortions?” or “Where can I go to get a safe abortion?”  The owner of Alabama’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives, Dalton Johnson, told reporters, “These women are being scared to death.” Johnson reports that his clinic has also received many calls a day from women confused and worried about either their current reproductive health appointments, or ones they had thought they would be able to make in the future. This is once again, a prime example of society allowing women’s choices and bodies to be ruled by a nescient patriarchy. 

Now that you know what this legislation means for the people of Alabama, I think it is important to also know why this legislation is being implemented. 

In 1973, the Supreme Court made a ruling on the court case, Roe V. Wade. This ruling set precedent that would make abortions legal for all women in America. As of 2019, this decision has been in place for 46 years, enough for stare decisis to have taken place. This basically means that if the Supreme Court were to revisit the idea of abortion, they would not turn over Roe V. Wade. Alabama lawmakers know this, but with the lawsuits brought up by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, this issue could make it back to the Supreme Court, where, with a newly appointed conservative majority, new exceptions could be made to the current abortion ruling. This would ulitmately allow Alabama and other red states to not neccesarily ban all abortions, but to rather find loopholes and exceptions in the law that would lead to stricter “heartbeat” bills.

Governor Ivey told reporters that the ban would be “unenforceable” and that it is mainly serving the purpose of getting the topic of abortion back on the Supreme Court’s docket. This is a surreptitious abuse of legislative power, and a slap in the face to all women in Alabama. 

Being Pro-life in the south is commonly due to religion, and in the christian faith, abortion is an assumed sin. Pro-lifers in Alabama are sanctimonious hypocrites, they only care about the fetus when it is in the womb because they think their god wants them to. Generally, pro-lifers fall within the republican party, and following the current republican platform, most pro-lifers do not care about any marginalized group facing oppression. The pro-lifers in Alabama who are trying so hard to get this topic back in the hands of the Supreme Court, only care about this issue because they think their religion tells them to. 

We cannot stay silent while young girls are having their futures stunted by the lack of opportunity due to reproductive oppression.

I do not believe abortion has direct correlation to religion or faith. Belief in the choice of abortion is an issue of morality rather than an issue of religious obligation. While these two things can be congruent, being religious should not mean that you automatically condemn a woman’s independence and autonomy over her own body. Our country was founded on the basis of separation of church and state, legislation surrounding abortion is not an exception.

While many may not morally agree with the physical act of aborting a fetus, many people still believe that a woman should have the right to make that decision herself. Imagine a woman who lives below the federal poverty line, she unintentionally becomes pregnant because she cannot access birth control. This hypothetical woman cannot afford to pay $32,000 to have a child, let alone raise it, so she turns to an abortion. This is the most economically, mentally, and physically humane choice this woman can make at this point in her life, and this is the case for many women, especially in Alabama. This right to choose what you do with your own body based on what you think is best for you, is being taken away, and it is inexcusable. 

The Human Life Protection Act is doing nothing but protecting ignorance and a lack of humanity hidden by the mask of religious duty in the Alabama state government, and it is both immoral and unconstitutional. We cannot sit back in complacency while the United States Government wrongfully strips citizens of a basic human right. We cannot stay silent while young girls are having their futures stunted by the lack of opportunity due to reproductive oppression. This is not just unethical, it is nefarious and hateful. Do something, say something, write something. Do not sit silent in the face of immorality and injustice.