In the Idaho representation’s latest act of folly, the Senate State Affairs committee provided favorable recommendation Monday toward legislation banning abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
Similar legislation has been invalidated in courts across the country. If the ban is approved, it would take only one case in one court where the legislation is upheld and it would be pushed into effect.
The bill is a ridiculous proposition that would severely limit the option of abortion for women of all ages; disregarding many valid reasons for why someone would be seeking an abortion, despite whether their beliefs say life begins at conception, birth or somewhere in between.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, most women discover their pregnancy between four and seven weeks. A fetal heartbeat could first be detected as early as five and a half weeks. Many women do not realize they are pregnant before the heartbeat is detected.
The proposed bill would make an exception for cases of pregnancy as a result of sexual assault or incest, but only if the woman was able to provide proof in the form of court documentation, a law enforcement report to a physician or if a doctor certifies the woman was unable to report the crime for health reasons.
What this tells me is a sexual assault victim would need to report the crime almost immediately in order to have the possibility of getting documentation from the courts or a police report. This poses a major issue for the mental health of a woman who was assaulted in an incredibly personal way and, if she is even able to report the incident immediately, finding out she was pregnant in the middle of it all.
If the thought of a woman choosing abortion makes you uncomfortable, try imagining getting pregnant through sexual assault just to find out the government is forcing you to carry your assaulter’s baby to full term because there is no court or police documentation. The amount of proof a woman needs to provide in the short timeframe she would have to discover the baby’s heartbeat is absurd.
Of course, an adoption is an option. But carrying a child to full term is a difficult thing for nearly every woman and more often than not leaves permanent marks on their bodies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-third of all births are performed via cesarean section. Those are permanent scars reminding the victim of what they were forced to go through after their horrifying experience. Not to mention the number of children who remain in the foster care system until they are too old, left to fend for themselves without a family.
Children are insanely expensive. Hospital bills, baby food, cribs, diapers, wipes and all of the other things someone would need to raise an infant are costly. The costs only multiply as they get older.
“Middle-income, married-couple parents of a child born in 2015 may expect to spend $233,610 for food, shelter, and other necessities to raise a child through age 17,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Living is hard, being a mother who is responsible for another life is harder. The responsibilities of being a mom cost a person time, emotional health, money and so many other things a person may not be ready to give up. The reason for not wanting to give those things up is nobody’s business.
I wouldn’t consider myself fully pro-choice because I would never choose abortion for myself. I would prefer a woman keep her baby too. But I am lucky enough to have a wonderful group of people close to me who are more than willing to help if I were to discover an unexpected pregnancy.
Who am I to tell other women, in similar or different situations, they need to make the same choices I do? I’m nobody in that aspect. I can’t tell other women what to do when it comes to having children, and a bunch of old guys shouldn’t be able to either.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5.