The national debate over abortion has once again heated up due to new ‘pro-life’ legislation. New laws in Alabama, Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky, Utah, Georgia, and Missouri are all generating controversy and drawing attention to the abortion issue. The laws in these states all have their differences, but the intended effect is the same. All ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is able to be detected, which is approximately at the six week mark of a woman’s pregnancy. The great majority of women don’t even know they are pregnant at six weeks. Even when these laws are scheduled to go into effect, they aren’t able to be enforced because they are directly violating the constitution and the famous Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade where abortion was labeled a constitutional right under the 14th amendment. Yet, that is exactly these lawmakers’ intentions: to create a law that could potentially reach the Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade.
Banning abortions is a controversial topic on its own, but a certain part of the bill in Alabama and a few other states has generated even more chaos: there are no exceptions for rape or incest. Without this exception, pro-choicers not only see it as an attack on women’s rights, but as the government condoning rape. Even the pro-life movement is divided by this issue. Further yet, the punishments talked of for doctors performing an abortion or patients getting the abortion, in many cases, would be worse than that of rapists. This spawns even more controversy. No matter what side a person is on, there’s no doubt that these laws are rather extreme in nature and wouldn’t appeal to a moderate view of abortion.
Opinions on both sides of the issue have been flying all over the internet on a variety of different platforms including social media, internet forms, and news articles. It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t have a strong opinion on the topic. “Whenever I go through Instagram, I see tons of posts about abortion and people’s opinions on it,” sophomore Laura Simmons says. The comment sections of feminist and pro-life accounts have blown up with their posts being shared by people who harbor their respective beliefs. Even meme pages have joined in posting content related to the topic. The discussion has virtually infiltrated every platform imaginable which isn’t always the case with politics. Something about abortion really gets people going on both sides. Whether you see it as an issue of person-hood starting at conception or a women’s rights issue, please be mindful of others with different views.