Mississippi, following the lead of South Dakota, could ban all abortions in the state.
The bill that would virtually ban abortion is heading to Mississippi’s House of Representatives. A Mississippi House committee approved the bill, 19-4. The ban would only allow abortions to save the mother’s life. Cases involving rape and incest would be illegal under this ban.
Having been raised in a Republican-Christian home, I understand the argument against abortion. In fact, I once opposed legal abortions in all circumstances.
However, after acquiring an elementary understanding of America’s legal system, I realized the government should not ban something based on personal beliefs.
I still disagree with abortion in most instances. Yet my feelings should not undermine the importance of freedom and a stable society.
At the very least, abortions should be legal in cases of rape and incest. But this bill wouldn’t allow abortions in these unfortunate situations.
Think about this rationally. After a woman conceives the child of her rapist, how is she going to feel about this child? Can we guarantee she wouldn’t neglect, harm or kill the baby?
Of course not. If we don’t allow raped women the right to abort, the rapist wins again. Plus, we’ll have cases where raped women will try to abort their own children, causing more harm and crime.
As for incest, the chance of a baby receiving lethal genes increases with this kind of birth. This proposed ban would ignore all the women pressured into incestuous relationships. The state has no right to tell a woman to keep a child from incest. Again, making abortion illegal will produce more harm and crime in this situation.
Scientifically, the proposed ban doesn’t make any sense. Sociologists often look at societies as organisms slowly adapting to their environments. Sudden changes in an environment can disrupt adaptation.
Simply, it would throw our society off-balance to abruptly ban all abortions. There should be a limit on what we do. Otherwise, our society could become unstable.
Undoubtedly, this ban, if passed, will be challenged. The case will reach the Supreme Court, and I doubt the court will support such a strict ban.
But I don’t care about that. This article is for everyone who would support this bill, regardless of how long it survives.
Humans are imperfect. We don’t know when life truly begins. And women in cases of rape and incest will continue to abort their children, whether abortion is legal or not. Let’s not add more people to our already flooded jails.
Instead, realize a legal precedent like an abortion ban could allow the government to take away more of our medical rights in the future.
In other words, if we force our subjective morals on the law system, we’ll lose more freedom. You better believe that.
Categories:
Abortion ban flunks logic
Jed Pressgrove
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March 5, 2006
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