Flaws both blatant and underlying within the recent heartbeat bill in Texas
For those who haven’t heard about Senate Bill 8 in Texas, the basics are as follows: abortion is banned after an electrical current is detected in the womb indicating a pregnancy at six weeks. Many believe that most women don’t know they are pregnant at this marker. What separates this bill from many others before it is the financial repercussions that can come to those who “aid and abet” women seeking abortions.
I know, another opinion out in the world about abortion. This isn’t even the first time I have written about this topic. I penned an article last year about the Christian perspective on abortion and the recent events in Texas have inspired me to tackle this topic a second time around with some new information and under different circumstances.
The person who sues for the abortion can receive up to $10,000 for suing someone for this crime. The woman that gets the abortion cannot be sued. However, the institutions, people and everyone else that gets her there can be sued.
Before we delve more into this topic, I want you, the reader, and I to be on the same page: I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is murder. It is a heartbreaking loss of life sanctioned by the government and I think looking back at this time in history we will be aghast at the infants who never get a chance to develop.
And here’s why I don’t think this bill is right.
This bill is designed to police the people who give abortions, not stop abortions. I think there is a difference. If you want to stop abortions you address the root causes of issues. What aspects of life make having a child bad news? Why don’t we ask the question, “Why, according to guttmacher.org, are 70% of abortions performed on people of color? What economically is at play here?”
To me, that looks like we have a rampant pedophilia problem. That looks like we have a generation of girls that have either poor sex education or are living high-risk lifestyles. But no one wants to sit down and ask why.
How does it sit right with anyone else that we have to specify that there are no exceptions for incest or rape? No one wants to crack down on the rapists though. At least in a way that currently represents the severity of the crime committed or has proven effective at preventing sexual assaults.
“This bill is designed to police the people who give abortions, not stop abortions.”
That doesn’t even point out that, by design, this bill will pit fellow Americans against each other. It incentivizes church members to sue each other, neighbors to turn against one another. This is an issue that can be solved by open hearts; instead, it encourages the secrecy and shame that surround this issue.
Abortion is wrong. I know that, and I think a lot of other people know that. That being said I also know that these laws won’t prevent abortions, not really. If you want to prevent abortions you crack down on rapists, you provide our children with more comprehensive sex education, you look at what causes women of color to look at abortion as an option more than any other population.
Especially when you take into account that reported by prochoice.org, 57% of abortions are performed on low-income individuals. Or that black women are anywhere from two-to-six times more likely to die during childbirth according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health.
Make certain that birth control is freely accessible by all and covered by insurance. Pour money into making sure that birth control is effective and works. Look at the disparities in women’s health and make that our country’s priority is to make sure our expectant mothers receive the best health care in the world.
And unless I am missing something, this bill doesn’t do anything like this or intend to. It’s another bill passed by men in a house that is completely disconnected from their constituents. This bill is likely going to end up in the Supreme Court and get struck down and leave no lasting changes or changes that make the root of the problem far worse.
As a Christian, I believe that babies, born or not, deserve life. I believe Christians are called to love all people. I don’t think this bill loves anyone. I think the clinics lose. I think women lose. I think the babies lose.
We are going to continue to see a generation of neglected children not because their parents don’t love them, or want the best for them, but because parents need to work constantly to provide for their children.
I am scared that our politicians choose the route of dividing people and don’t seem to care much for addressing the problems that lie at the root of this crisis. That’s exactly what this is: a crisis. We have got to ask ourselves what kind of world, and what country we live in where mothers would rather their babies die than bring them into this world.
Is abortion right? In my opinion, no. Will this bill solve any of the issues that lead to abortion? No, that’s why I don’t support it.