Is it true that if the United States bans abortion, they ban healthcare for women?
Ali Velshi, a Canadian journalist, speaks on the topic of abortion and how it is an essential part of female healthcare. He states that many Americans who claim to be in support of women’s rights do not believe that abortion should be considered healthcare due to lies that were spread during the anti-abortion movement. The anti-abortion movement spread disinformation about abortion, including that it is murder, no matter the circumstance. As this topic can be controversial, it has become an uncomfortable subject across the country, leading few people to defend this important cause. Now, lies and misinformation about abortion have spread and become more well-known than the support for abortion has. Now, in this post-Roe vs. Wade era, doctors are refusing to give women the proper care that they need to help save their lives. Velshi voices, “ Only now in this real-life dystopian backdrop are we as a country begging to understand that abortion is healthcare.” This statement is trying to convey the unfortunate idea that women are dying and losing vital organs over something that could be prevented by having an abortion. In addition, the medical association, reputable doctors, and many other health experts are coming out and saying that abortions are a vital part of women’s healthcare. It is clear that the people who have fought to overturn Roe vs. Wade know that abortion should be considered healthcare and that by doing this, they are preventing a person who does not want to be pregnant or can not survive the pregnancy from having an abortion. This refusal is a violation of basic human body rights and needs to be overturned.
In 2016, Donald Trump, while running for president, spoke out about abortion. He declared that there needed to be a punishment for women who have abortions. This statement is a campaign promise that Donald Trump has kept. Trump continuously fought against Roe vs. Wade and ended up overturning it. Now, not only are women who want an abortion denied this right, but women who need one can not get an abortion either. Kaitlyn Kash, a woman from Austin Texas, had to get an abortion outside of Texas when she was suffering during pregnancy and knew that her child would not make it till birth. Unfortunately, her story does not end there. Later, when she was able to get a miscarriage, she had to experience this without medical help because Texas did not allow her to take the medication needed. When she gave birth in 2023, the hospital did not have enough staff and equipment to provide postpartum care causing her to be sent to the ICU. There, Kaitlyn Kash was told she was lucky she did not lose her uterus or fertility. Texas’s rules against abortion prevented Kaitlyn from getting the care she needed, ultimately causing her to risk her fertility and uterus. When speaking on this matter, Melissa Murray states, “When you ban abortion, you ban women’s healthcare and you punish women for being women.” She then states, “These pro-life policies do not seem to be pro-life for the whole life.” Eventually, Kaitlyn Kash brought her story to court which ended up at The Texas Supreme Court where she was told that it was the doctor’s fault because they did not know what they were doing and the law was working fine. Kaitlyn then talks about how when she would go and visit fetal doctors, they would be upset and heartbroken that they could not provide care to her because of the law. Even women in “safe states” are not necessarily safe because if Donald Trump is re-elected, he could pass a federal abortion ban that overrides any state’s protection. No woman is safe and these bans force pregnancy and birth no matter the situation. Abortion is a necessary part of a woman’s healthcare and no man should be able to make rules about a woman’s body.
