With the power of one signature, the abortion argument has reared its ugly head once again.
Rewind back to the campaigning stages of Election 2012 when the discussion kept making frequent appearances, much to the candidates' chagrin. Since then, the conversation has been simmering on low, but that doesn't mean advocates haven't been busy over the last few months.
Now it has progressed to a full boil.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple signed the country's toughest abortion policy into law this week, forcing the topic back into the national discussion. The bill, which is scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1, bans all abortions once a heartbeat is detected - approximately six weeks into a pregnancy. In addition, the measure would also make North Dakota the first state to ban abortions based on genetic defects and require a doctor who performs abortions to be a physician with hospital-admitting privileges.
The topic of abortion is already messy and touchy for people on both sides without throwing in the word "heartbeat." If nothing else, it's amazing rhetoric on behalf of the state's lawmakers. Think of all that is triggered when discussing someone with a heartbeat. You think of your cousins, your siblings; you don't think of a fetus. Heartbeat is a word that comes with emotion. If this was not a discussion of that one specific facet, would the sympathy change? Would fewer people be affected if a heartbeat weren't the issue?
This new law has not only awoken the abortion conversation but also prodded it with a stick and irritated it. Within minutes of the bill passing, donations began pouring in to clinics to help prove that the new laws are unconstitutional and violate the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case. With this new attempt to change the previous decision - or as Dalrymple says, to test its limits - the issue could very well make a return to the Supreme Court.
You can't have the pro-choice versus anti-abortion argument, however, without talking about what it means to women. North Dakota's measures are fueled in part by an attempt to close down the state's abortion clinics - or rather, clinic.
There is one abortion clinic in North Dakota: the Red River Women's Clinic, which not only operates as a pro-choice clinic, but also provides access to birth control, STD testing, pregnancy tests and annual exams.
Shutting down Red River shuts down all of that. Additionally, if abortions are banned after the fetal heartbeat, how long does that give a woman to figure out if she's pregnant or not? Following a missed period, it would - if she's lucky - give her about two weeks at the most.
It's interesting to look at the law as an outsider because, as current residents of New York, we will probably not have to deal with anything similar, especially considering the group representing Red River is based in our state. But there are five other states in the nation currently discussing a "heartbeat bill" similar to North Dakota's. Arkansas also passed legislation on the topic a few weeks ago, banning abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy (10 weeks after fertilization). There are multiple other states that ban abortions after 20 weeks based on the theory that fetuses can feel pain after this time (something that is not accepted in mainstream medicine).
Each law is influenced by one simple question: When does life begin? It's a question that plagues us as a country; it's a question no one has a definitive answer to without bringing in emotions or religion.
Whatever North Dakota's new bill and the challenges to it bring, the discussion on abortion, women's rights and right to life is only going to get stronger. As for any kind of general consensus, the agreements are few and far between. But there are a few things we should definitely be able to see eye to eye with - the main one being there is no such thing as "pro-abortion."
The term "pro-choice" doesn't mean "I'm going to have an abortion;" it means "I'm able to make the choice to have an abortion or to not have an abortion." It doesn't open the doors to promiscuity. It doesn't mean there will be lines around the block to Planned Parenthood. Abortion is embarrassing, scary and painful and it affects the person who chooses to go through with it more than you can tell.
Do we feel if you're not a woman you should have as strong of a stance on the subject? No. Do we feel you should have a child if you're not going to be able to take care of it after birth? No.
But this is not a conversation that is about to disappear. In fact, it's only going to get hotter. We can only hope there is consistency from lawmakers in what they tell people are their reasons for telling people what they can and cannot do.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
