A Disgruntled Texas Resident discusses the most recent abortion ban
Photo of the Texas flag courtesy of Ren Sikes.
Ren Sikes | Opinions Editor
Dear Texas, HOW DARE YOU.
Before I get ahead of myself, I should probably mention that I have lived in Texas for about nine years now. My father was in the air force for thirteen years, and we moved around alot. That being said, Texas is the closest thing to a “home” that I have. As a nonbinary person who was assigned female at birth, I have many of the traditional female organs, including a uterus.
I’m sure you can figure out where this is going.
As of September first of 2021, Texas legislature has banned abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy. Six weeks is far sooner than many may realize, and many women do not know they are even pregnant at six weeks. There are a multitude of reasons why a woman might not know she is pregnant at this stage, but one of the bigger reasons is that nearly half of all pregnancies are unplanned, according to OB-GYN Dr. Jen Villavicencio. This CNN article goes into greater detail about the reasons that might keep a woman from realizing she is pregnant.
Truthfully, I think the part that upsets me the most is the anonymous report system on the website prolifewhistleblowers.com. This site — set up by the antiabortion group Texas Right to Life — allows Texas residents (and anyone who has access to the internet) to report abortion clinics, as well as anyone who may aid a woman is recieving an abortion. This includes Uber and Lyft services, cooperations that help provide financial support to women seeking abortions and the person seeking the abortion themselves.
The beauty of the internet, however, is that people have taken the whistleblower site as an opportunity to troll the anti-abortion community. Tik Tok creators have spread the word and have subsequently flooded the internet with the endless possibilities to undermine the whistleblowers original purpose.
Other forms of rebellion against the Texas abortion ban include Uber and Lyft promising to pay the legal fees for anyone who might get caught up by Texas Right to Life and their anonymous reporters.
As far as Texas goes, this new development is unsurprising. Abortion and a woman’s right to her own body has been an ongoing battle for many years. The overarching issue is the audacity of old white men who think they can do whatever they want because they are a “government official.”
My biggest fear is that this new anti-abortion law will scare women into thinking they are monsters for trying to make their own decisions about their bodies, and will resort to dangerous and drastic measures.
How many lives must we lose to at home abortions because some old white guy said that abortion is bad? That’s the question I am going to leave you with today.
Sincerely,
A disgruntled Texas Resident
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