Newsflash: Administration: Abortion

Jane Brooks
Professor Simonson
Women’s Studies


MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no as a principle?

TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.

MATTHEWS: For the woman.

TRUMP: Yeah, there has to be some form.

These statements about punishing women for abortion were made by the President of the United States during a March 30, 2016 town hall meeting in Green Bay, as recorded in an article by Politifact. What does it say about our country that the President argues that in some way, a woman needs to be punished for abortion. In his short time as President thus far, Trump and his administration have already made progression for anti-abortion legislation. As a woman, it is terrifying to know that men are making decisions about what I can and cannot do with my body. The people who are making these anti-abortion laws and putting them into place are predominantly men. My sentiments about abortion are similar to those of Judith Arcana, in her article “Abortion is a Motherhood Issue”, that women are the ones who have to take all the responsibility of childbearing. Thus, why should men have any say, when they are not the ones who have to take on the responsibilities and consequences that a pregnant mother does.

If the roles were reversed and men were the ones who could get pregnant, not only would contraception be covered by insurance and given out as freely as condoms, but abortion would be legal in every state. It is saddening to think that in 2017, women still do not have complete autonomy over deciding what happens to their bodies. It is also important to recognize that getting an abortion is even harder for women of color, minorities, of lower-economic class, and especially immigrants. Although Trump has only been in office for six months, he and his administration through backdoor legislation are already making it even harder for women to get abortions. The administrations need to dominate and control women through abortion regulation is highlighted in a recent case in September 2017 involving a 17-year-old undocumented minor who was denied the right to an abortion.


According to a Slate article written by Mark Stern, the undocumented minor—assigned the name Jane Doe—was recently held in federal custody and denied access to an abortion by the Trump administration, even after a Texas judge ruled that she could. After many weeks, “Jane Doe” was finally permitted to have an abortion, however, only after she was forced to go to numerous counseling sessions at anti-abortion centers attempting to convince her not to abort. The Slate article includes a statement made by Jane doe claiming, “They made me see a doctor that tried to convince me not to abort and to look at sonograms.” Not only this, but because it took so long for Jane Doe to get approved for abortion, she went from being in her first trimester to her second trimester which is a more complicated and dangerous procedure. This is just one example of how trump administration is whittling away abortion rights. They are also doing this by designation people to roles who are openly anti-abortion advocates such as ORR director Scott Lloyd. The slate article states that the ORR is required to get permission from anti-abortion advocate Scott Lloyd before proceeding with abortion of undocumented minors. These systematic forms of oppression affect people of color, different ethnicity, lower class, etc. the most. Jane doe’s case and the discrimination against a poor, immigrant woman is similar to the sentiments in Arcana’s article when she states, “Repeatedly, economic, social, and institutional policies have severely affected women’s choice to determine reproduction.”



Pro-lifers have had such success in the past year because the new administration allows for. Upon researching about abortion laws, I discovered an article claiming that my hometown, Ohio, is attempting to pass a law which would “ban an abortion because of a Down syndrome prenatal test result”. The article also mentions that if a woman is convicted of having a selective abortion, she will face anywhere from six to 18 months in prison. Perhaps this is the kind of punishment Trump was referring to in his interview earlier. When considering abortion, it is imperative to look at the quality of the child’s life if the mother does not get an abortion. If the mother knows and recognizes that her child won’t grow up in a healthy environment due to economic instability, dangerous living conditions, etc., then the woman will most likely choose to get an abortion. Is it fair for her to bring a child into this world is she cannot take care of the child? And even if she does decide, it should not be anybody’s choice but hers. Why does society feel it can tell women what to do with their own bodies?

I cannot comprehend a world where abortion is illegal, however, that day may come soon. Whether society disagrees on whether or not abortion should be legal, the more important thing to recognize is that making abortion illegal will not stop women from seeking means to abort. If anything, making abortion illegal and harder for women to get is more dangerous because women will find other methods to abort which are dangerous and life-threatening. As discussed in the Slate article by Cara Heuser and Chavi Eve Karkowsky it is mentioned that US maternal mortality rate is so high due to poverty and lack of access to health care. We know that the maternal mortality rate is higher than it has ever been and will substantially increase if abortion is made illegal. 

Included below is an article by the Washington post which shows a compilation of laws passed just this year that make it harder for women to get an abortion. I think reading this is really worthwhile because it shows how under the Trump administration, these states are making leeway in fighting against abortion.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/06/01/14-states-have-passed-laws-making-it-harder-to-get-an-abortion-already-this-year/?utm_term=.0e7a562d6fb0

Works cited
1.  http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/article/2016/mar/30/context-transcript-donald-trump-punishing-women-ab/
2.http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/10/25/jane_doe_undocumented_minor_obtains_abortion.html 
3. http://www.downsyndromeprenataltesting.com/ohio-pro-life-bill-incentivizes-down-syndrome-selective-abortion/
4. Judith Arcana "Abortion Is A Motherhood Issue"
5. Cara Heuser and Chavi Eve Karkowsky "Maternal Mortality Rate" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Gaga Wave

Image
Halberstam talks about the shortcomings of feminist Susan Faludi during her speech at a panel discussion and brings up an important point: Faludi’s theory feminism was out of date and restricted. Faludi’s conception of feminism did not include any mention of queer challenges and Halberstam points out that she makes no distinction between class or race. Faludi’s restricted and incomplete view of feminism contributes to the oppression of a majority of the people in our society. However, this being said I don’t think it is progressive for feminism communities to condemn feminist theories if they do not agree. While I think it is important that Halberstam brings attention to the shortcomings in Faludi’s feminist theory, I also believe that Halberstam’s criticism is not always constructive. In order to be successful as a movement, all feminist communities and theorists have to come together and acknowledge each other’s differences, not force one regime of feminist theory and deem it as the
Read more

RAGE

Image
In my high school being a person of color meant you were a part of the majority. Being a black person meant you were the majority. In my high school it was rare to ever walk the halls and see a white male or female, staff included. However, since coming to this campus that's all I see. It's different and it makes me realize that even though I once felt like I was a part of a majority race that in actuality I am a minority. I feel like I was in a little bubble oblivious to all harms the world aimed at me. I understood racism still existed but it was hard to encounter in an area where everyone was a person of color. I used to think the main thing standing in the way of my equality was men. Coming to this campus popped my bubble. I learned that racism and racial hatred still is a huge problem in this country, more so than I thought. I learned that not only do women of color have to fight for rights equal to men but to fight for rights based on their race, as well. I come to r
Read more

Terror and Cultural Framing

Image
This piece of artwork of a toddler peering over the U.S-Mexico border was created by renowned French artist JR. This image means something different to each local, but above all it calls for attention that the locals exist as people and as one local said in a video about this piece of artwork: "hey look I exist and I'm not a terrorist".           We have to work as a nation to fight not only for women’s rights, but also human rights. It comes as no surprise that the militarization of the U.S-Mexico border is reinforced by violent tactics attempting to keep people from crossing as described in Falcon’s article. Those who do cross the border and are caught face beatings, harassment, sexual assault, and rape. Falcon’s connection to militarization with the need to dominate and control connects to Bunch’s article and the Bush administration’s desire to dominate and instill fear in other countries. This brute domination reminds me of the sexual assault documentary we rece
Read more