Tuesday, December 3, 2019

2020 Abortion Battle

According to the CNN article, the topic of abortion will be a heavily highlighted topic going into 2020. Not only will it be a topic discussed in the upcoming election, but the Supreme Court will also be taking two cases to review. A potential case involves the state of Indiana's policy on abortion. Under Indiana policy, expecting women are required to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before their abortion and given the option to look at the image and hear the heartbeat. While the law has been ruled constitutional since it doesn't violate a doctor's freedom of speech while still upholding standard ultrasound protocol, it is clear the law is designed to pressure women.

Upon reading the article, I find it hard to believe that we are still having discussions regarding a woman's right to her body. We saw a push for abortion rights in the earlier stages of the modern feminist movement, but to my surprise, it is still as relevant to us as it was to earlier women. Why is it that conservatives feel entitled to a woman's body? It feels like for decades, a woman's body has been the center of concern for many men: How should it look?  How should it be dressed? Who does it belong to? Whose choice is it carry a baby for nine months? 

I don't understand why these questions are constantly being answered by men instead of women. Are these questions that difficult to answer without the help of women? It seems like nowadays everyone's opinion is valid except a woman's. Feel free to comment your opinion on the increasing attention surrounding abortion rights.

2 comments:

  1. Reading about how abortion became a controversial issue during the modern feminist movement, after it had been generally accepted decades before that, I, too, was surprised that not only has this topic been revived from what should have seemingly been put to bed, but also that it was something that seemed to pop up cyclically. Does this mean that it has never truly been resolved? Or that each generation finds an uneasiness in it that leads to a slightly varied perspective on the same kinds of claims?

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  2. I think that this law requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before their abortion is an incredibly cruel and unjust law. Deciding to pursue an abortion is no easy decision for any woman, and I feel that it is unfair to further pressure a woman away from a choice that they undoubtedly internally struggled to make. Whilst it doesn't directly affect women's accessibility and ability to have an abortion, I think this law has a detrimental emotional consequences and I feel it implicitly makes women feel like they do not have the right or authority to choose how to treat their bodies, and or their future. Coming to the end of 2019 and a start of a new decade, seeing these drawbacks still prevail is incredibly unsettling, and honestly, against the equal, feminist society and culture so many of us in this generation are so desperately pushing for.

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