One of the most controversial topics coming up in state court rooms has been abortion, and it’s accessibility. Most recently, the Texas supreme court has welcomed this case into its courtroom and has today, June. 27th, 2016 declared that the withstanding laws they had implemented on abortion clinics in 2013 would be lifted. A huge win for pro-choice advocates, this Texas law was seen as one of the toughest in the nation.
The initial law put into place in Texas stated that clinics providing abortion services must meet the same building standards as ambulatory surgical centers. And it required doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. Basically, when this law was constructed, it’s authors took into account that they couldn’t stop women from making the decision to abort. So since they could not make the choice entirely illegal, they made it a much more difficult process. Although most women that go through with an abortion do not usually require hospitalization, Texas politicians attempted to “protect women’s health”. Congresswoman Ann Wagner turned to twitter to spill her annoyance of the ruling.
I cannot understand the logic employed by #SCOTUS in overturning a commonsense TX law that protects women’s health https://t.co/x0PyE6zQDf
— Ann Wagner (@RepAnnWagner) June 27, 2016
The likelihood of a woman needing hospitalization is superbly slim, in fact the odds are less than 0.05% if done in the first trimester. Using this was just a lame excuse in order to fool people into believing that they put women, when in reality they were shoving their agendas down our throat. After the 2013 clinic shut down law was put into action, the amount of clinics started rapidly decreasing, as it was very difficult to meet the states standards. Texas went from home of 42 successful abortion clinics, to 19 in the span of three years.
Bringing hope, this victory not only affects women in Texas but women all over, especially in the states. This awaited win is a wake up call to all states believing that they could pull a fast one, and use loop holes to ensure that getting an abortion is a nearly impossible task. The constitution protects a woman’s right to go through with this, and the case Roe v. Wade guarantees women this right. Abortion is a serious decision, but it’s not a choice that should be made by a man, who has no clue about a woman’s circumstances. She should not have to defend herself for not wanting a child nor should she have to risk her health because the state government has made abortions seemingly unachievable.
Although this is a gigantic win for women, primarily in Texas, there are still a plethora of states with rigid laws that make having an abortion a difficult process. For example, 83% of Michigan does not have access to an abortion clinic, as well as Indiana with a whopping 93%. There is still a long way to go, but eventually a woman’s right to abort will be real, and not just on paper. Hopefully, this ruling will influence other states and stop them from derailing women from their right.
