Recently there have been several countries/states threatening to outlaw legal abortion. There have always been attacks on this politically but they are starting to break through. This is another human rights issue we are facing as a people. Women believe if they are to succeed in passing these laws; they will come for our birth control next and prevent sterilisation appointments for those without children. I, for one, believe them. And they will not stop with just us women.
Senate Bill 8 - the ban in Texas (from planned parenthood):
"The harmful law is sometimes referred to as Senate Bill 8 (S.B. 8).
S.B. 8 bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy — before many people even know they’re pregnant.
S.B. 8 allows people across the country to sue anyone who helps someone get an abortion after six weeks in Texas — including doctors, partners, friends, family members, or abortion fund volunteers.
Roe v. Wade (protection for abortion rights) is being threatened to be overturned:
"Trump promised to only nominate justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. His Supreme Court appointees — Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — all have records hostile to reproductive health and rights.
Adverse rulings in any of these could limit our access to safe, legal abortion for decades. Roe could be overturned or weakened, eliminating what little access to abortion is left for many people in the United States.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned or further eroded, one-third of all women of reproductive age in America could lose the ability to access abortion in their state."
This can lead to children living uninvested, uneducated lives, and do you think living feeling like you are a burden to your mother is healthy for any human being?
Due to this, women will be in needless debt, have a lack of education, terrible mental health situations, leaving relationships, hospitalised; sick or dying just to name a few things. "Giving away children" has the same result here. As an answer women are booking in appointments straight away to be sterilised en masse. Do you see the issues here?
Now like me you are probably wondering, if something as fucked up as this is seriously being considered in politics, what the fuck do we do?
Well, if you are a man reading this we really need your help too. You might think reading this that this is a women's issue, feminism or something; but it is a human rights issue and will definitely affect you too. Having you on our side is a huge win for us women and is a huge step in the right direction. If you're already on board, thank you.
To make people aware is the first huge thing - tell a friend, tell a family member. Start a civil discussion and change/open some minds.
If you can protest safely in your country if/when it happens, protest. Send letters, call numbers, sign signatures, find out what you can do. Literally anything is better than nothing. Planned Parenthood has methods of protest linked at the bottom of the page. Also here.
And lastly, if you can, please keep watch on all of this because this is a continual fight we have not won yet. I hope my point of how important this is, is taken seriously. I can only hope. We have to get through this together. We cannot let this happen.