A national law governing abortion is highly unlikely. It doesn’t matter who is elected the next president. However, state laws are another matter. Abortion proponents have succeeded in placing abortion-related propositions on the ballots in 10 states.
All but the one in South Dakota and a competing measure in Nebraska are extreme in that they would allow abortion for any reason up to the actual moment of birth, due to the unworkable definition of “health” in the Supreme Court ruling in Doe v. Bolton. However, all are expected to pass due to misinformation and the scare tactics used by those who view abortion as a sacrament.
Colorado’s is the most extreme. That state already has one of the most permissive laws in the country However, the proposed constitutional amendment would require Medicaid or private insurance to cover all costs.
We’ve recently been bombarded with stories of women with ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages or other medical issues who suffered serious complications because they supposedly were denied the timely care needed because of state abortion laws. Oprah Winfrey recently made an appearance with Kamala Harris to highlight the heartbreaking case of Amber Nicole Thurman who died. These cases are indeed tragic. However, they have been grossly misrepresented.
We need to stop scaring women! With all of the hyperbole, only two lawsuits have been filed. However, federal privacy laws keep the hospitals involved from giving us the facts until they are brought out in court.
Here is what you need to know:
Only 13 states have complete abortion bans currently in effect. All have life of the mother exceptions, and Louisiana has an exception for fatal fetal anomaly. Another 26 states have time limits, but all contain exceptions that fall into three categories: when there is risk to the health of the mother, where the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest, and where there is a fatal fetal anomaly.
Most of these states define “health of the mother” due to that Supreme Court case cited above. Bear in mind, if you don’t agree with the law in your state, there is nothing to stop you from traveling to another state for an abortion.
Here is what we know for sure about Amber’s death: She obtained the abortion pills legally in North Carolina. Some five days later she was back home in Georgia after her twins were dead. She had a serious complication. She was rushed to the emergency room. It has been reported that she waited in pain without medical intervention while “doctors were reluctant to perform the necessary operation to empty her uterus because Georgia’s abortion law had made the procedure a felony with few exceptions.”
But, this was not the case! The doctors first tried to stabilize her by giving her “antibiotics and an IV drip” and “[t]he OB-GYN noted the possibility of doing a D&C the next day.” Further tests were run, and they discovered other complications so the surgery was delayed. However, it was not because of Georgia’s abortion law!
The Georgia law states a D&C is prohibited once the unborn child has a detectable heartbeat, with exceptions for medical emergencies, rape and incest. Georgia law defines “abortion” as an act that “will, with reasonable likelihood, cause the death of an unborn child.” There was no ambiguity! Her twins were already dead, and only parts of them remained. There was no heartbeat. She had a life-threatening infection!
I remember waiting hours for an emergency operation that happened the day after I arrived at the hospital with what turned out to be a ruptured appendix. Tests had to be run first and a suitable team assembled. Doctors are not as stupid as some would have us believe. Perhaps they could have done things differently in Amber’s case, but she most certainly did not die due to Georgia’s abortion law. She died due to complications from the abortion pills, which carry serious risks listed on the label.
In the decade before Dobbs, an average of 4.3 women a year died from these “safe” legal abortions.
Polls show that most people are conflicted on abortion. According to a recent AP-NORC poll, about half of those who say a woman should be able to get an abortion for any reason also say their state should not allow abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy, and about one-quarter say their state should not allow abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Don’t be scared or fooled into voting for one of these extreme constitutional amendments that would painfully end the lives of viable babies.
