Women Can’t Wait for Courts to Decide Their Fate

Oct 11, 2021

As of October 9, 2021, abortion is effectively illegal in Texas. The Texas Heartbeat Act was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on May 15 of this year. The Act took effect on September 1, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to stop it. On October 6, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered Texas to suspend the law. Then, on October 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5^th Circuit put the law in effect again!

While the courts are flip-flopping, women are told to wait. Wait for the courts and the Democrats to protect their rights. Time is something pregnant women do not have. Wealthy women can get on a plane and fly somewhere. Poor women cannot.

There is a whole range of social consequences to unwanted pregnancies. Women with unintended pregnancies are more likely to experience depression and stress during pregnancy. Teenage girls have a higher rate of dropping out of school. Women drop out of the workforce. Higher crime rates. Increased levels of household stress, which can lead to domestic violence. These consequences can lead to the impoverishment of women and their children.

No. Women cannot wait for the courts, the Democrats, the legislature, or anyone else. Waiting means having a baby that could have a variety of problems, like fetal alcohol syndrome, or born addicted to drugs. Or born into an abusive and dangerous situation.

All children deserve the best a society has to offer. If women are not treated as human beings, if they are forced to take on roles they are too young for, responsibilities they are ill-equipped to handle or afford, then women, children and society at large will suffer.

Women cannot wait for reactionary ideas about “a woman’s role” to change.