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Aborted rights
By Zoë Williams
williamz@mscd.edu

The Supreme Court outlawed “partial birth” abortion last week in all circumstances, delivering a heavy strike on women’s rights.

Only in this country can an unelected governing body implement political jargon as medical terminology and support a foundation of misogyny that undermines one half of its population’s rights to privacy, liberty and equity.

“Partial birth” and “late term” abortion are not scientific terms and do not exist outside of the vocabulary of the National Right to Life Council. The procedure that was outlawed by the Court is called intact dilation and extraction (D and X). It is performed as early as the first week of the second trimester.

To understand the repercussions of the ban, look at who will benefit and suffer. In the United States, adolescent females undergo the most abortions after the first trimester. Females under age 15 are the most likely to obtain abortions after 21 or more weeks of pregnancy. There’s another interesting pattern in this demographic. Females under the age of 17 comprise 29 percent of rapes. Females under the age of 12 account for more than half of these rapes. These are children, and vulnerable ones at that. Apparently the Supreme Court is not worried about them.

D and X abortions are an option for women with pregnancies that pose serious threats to their lives. These abortions are also performed when a fetus faces severe chromosomal defects and will not survive outside of the womb. Without the option of D and X abortion, women may be required to carry pregnancies to term only to host a funeral the day after birth.

Politicians and the religious right are the only winners from the ruling. Their organizations and media offices are gloating in a success they claim will serve to end abortion.

However, abortion will not end with laws. When doctors are not an option, coat hangers, “back alley” procedures and suicide replace them. The religious right and other supporters of the ban are celebrating a political victory that has put the lives of women in peril.

Let this ban be a lesson to women and advocates for reproductive choice. The governing bodies of this nation are willing to risk the health and freedom of women for political gain. Will we wait for the next blow to occur, or are we going to fight back?