11/4/2018:
The battle of pro-life versus pro-choice has prolonged in our country’s political environment for years. This is no breaking news. However, with current President Trump’s mention of his anti-abortion stance followed by his nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh- a notorious anti-abortionist- to the United States Supreme Court, concerns regarding women’s reproductive rights have heightened. Kavanaugh poses a serious threat to potentially overturn Roe vs Wade (“Roe” 2018).
Roe vs Wade was a Supreme Court case that resulted in the ruling of abortion legalization under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1973 (“Roe” 2018)
With Kavanaugh confirmed, he could be the overriding vote necessary to nullify Roe vs Wade which would put millions of women’s health at risk and strip American women from their rights to control their own bodies. Such an act would be a major digression for America, a nation that is supposed to be a leader in the world of human rights.
Speaking of human rights, the United Nations Human Rights Committee published in their October 30th, 2018 “General Comment on the Right to Life” that providing available sites for safe abortions is a human right:
To highlight a few key points:
- “States must provide safe, legal and effective access to abortion where the life and health of the pregnant woman or girl is at substantial pain or suffering, most notably where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or is not viable.”
- “They should not take measures such as… apply[ing] criminal sanctions against women and girls undergoing pregnancies or against medical service providers assisting them in doing so, since taking such measures compel women and girls to resort to unsafe abortion.”
- “States parties should ensure the availability of, and effective access to, quality prenatal and post-abortion health care for women and girls, [18] in all circumstances, and on a confidential basis.”
- Note the “in ALL circumstances”
(Human 2018)
Beyond the fact that restricting safe abortion procedures in the US would be a violation of human rights, it would put many women’s lives in danger. Let’s not forget the reason Roe vs. Wade was fought for in the first place. Before abortion was legalized, “in 1965, illegal abortions made up one sixth of all pregnancy-and-childbirth related deaths” and “eight in ten women with with low incomes in New York City who had an abortion attempted a dangerous self-induced procedure”(planned parenthood). The legalities of abortion are not going to dictate whether or not abortion takes place because abortions are going to occur no matter the law. To believe a ban on abortions would prevent their occurrence is utter ignorance. Rather, the legalities are important to be in place to ensure women can be safe, healthy, and unharmed. According to Planned Parenthood, if Roe vs Wade is overturned, 25 million women- which is over one third of US women at reproductive age- would be at risk (“Roe” 2018).
Moreover, while Roe vs Wade permits legal abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy on a national level, it also gives state legislation the ability to dictate more specific rules for abortion during the second and third trimesters (“Roe” 2018). Variance therefore exists among states in terms of abortion resources available. A 2015 study researched the possible factors involved in such variance. They chose several social determinants of health to measure, along with three women’s reproductive health outcomes: abortion, teen births, and infant mortality rate. The social determinants of health included religiosity, poverty levels, and political trends. The deviation in abortion rate was largely credited to availability of abortion services (Kimball and Wissner, 2015). Take for example:
“ Wyoming had only three abortion providers in 2008, and 96% of women were located in counties without an abortion provider (Jones & Kooistra, 2011). California, with one of the highest abortion rates, at 27.6 per 1,000, had 522 abortion providers, and only 1% of women lived in counties without a provider (Jones & Kooistra, 2011)” (Kimball and Wissner 2015).
The researchers then drew associations of the availability range with each state’s respective political affiliations, democratic states trending with higher abortion rates and thus resources as opposed to republican states showing lower abortion rates and less allocated resources (Kimball and Wissner 2015).
Global Reproductive Rights News:
Canada: Canada is making major strides to advance women’s rights both in their own nation and throughout the world. Last year, they initiated a Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). To build upon that policy’s foundation, nearly all of their humanitarian aid following its establishment has included advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights or female empowerment. Canada is also looking forward to hosting the 2019 Women Deliver Conference to continue their feminist movement. http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/10/canada-takes-lead-role-funding-reproductive-health-womens-rights-sustainable-development/ Not to mention Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s publically vocal support of feminsm sets a wonderfully encouraging example for the entirety of the nation to follow.
England: England is potentially planning to legalize abortion pills to be taken at home. Using the pill approach, there is an initial pill that is administered at a hospital or clinic, followed by a second pill within 48 hours of the first. There is discussion to allow women to ingest the second pill in the privacy of their home. Those in favor argue that taking the second pill at home would allow women to avoid the potential pain, discomfort, and ultimately miscarriage while in public traveling home. The World Health Organization and other medical advisory affirm the safety in doing so. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/abortion-pill-at-home-northern-ireland-pregnancy-a8507811.html
Sources:
Human Rights Committee. “General comment no. 36 on article 6 of the international covenant on civil and political rights, on the right to life”. Centre for Civil and Political Rights. October 30, 2018.
Kimball, R. and Wissner, M. “Religion, poverty, and politics: their impact on women’s reproductive health outcomes”. Public Health Nursing. Volume 32, Issue 6. Pages 598-612. April 16, 2015.
“Roe v. Wade: The constitutional right to access safe, legal abortion”. Planned Parenthood. 2018.
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