Many women have suffered from the abortion ban set in places like Texas and Alabama. Amanda Zurawski is one of these many women. Zurawki’s water broke only 4 months into her pregnancy. She was told the baby would not survive. Due to abortion laws set in Texas, you can only have an abortion if the mother has a life-threatening physical condition aggravated, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” (Health and Safety Code, Sec. 171.002.) Due to this law, Zurawski almost died. She had to wait until she showed symptoms of a life-threatening disease. Since the abortion was performed so late and the infection had gotten to her uterus, she will have trouble having kids in the future. What if this happens to your wife, sister, or daughter due to the abortion ban?

In most states, abortion is only allowed in certain cases, like rape and incest. My question is: why should women have to go through a traumatizing experience to be able to “choose” to have an abortion? These events take away their dignity, and they are left with none when they realize they are an “exception” to the abortion ban. In most cases, women choose to have abortions for a good reason. Data is shown from the Turnaway Study; it states, “Women’s reasons for seeking an abortion fell into 11 broad themes. The predominant themes identified as reasons for seeking abortion included financial reasons (40%), timing (36%), partner-related reasons (31%), and the need to focus on other children (29%). Most women reported multiple reasons for seeking an abortion, crossing over several themes (64%).” You cannot invalidate a woman’s reason for an abortion. It is a right given to them when they are born.

Abortion bans should not be enacted because they harm the lives of women in more ways than one. You can never ban abortions completely; you can only ban safe ones. When safe, legal abortions are banned, women will resort to unsafe, illegal abortions. This means deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth will increase indefinitely. In a report by the Gender Equity Policy Institute, it states, “Mothers living in a state that banned abortion after Dobbs were up to 3x as likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or soon after giving birth” (Key Findings 4). Many women don’t have the opportunity to travel to different states to get an abortion. It should not be a struggle for women to get much-needed healthcare.

In 1973, abortion was protected under the pretense that it was the individual’s choice to keep the pregnancy or terminate it. This was due to the case of Roe v. Wade. When it was decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, we went back in time 50 years. When you suddenly decide to take away an individual’s right to choose what they do with their own body, when you choose to take away a right given to people when they are born, when you elect to take away essential health care, you are not only harming them but society as a whole. Now people think it is okay to shame others for what they choose to do for their own bodies. We need to protect women’s lives and rights to their bodies.