Recently an Oklahoma District Judge, Bryan Dixon, struck
down a law that was passed by Oklahoma legislature in 2010 that required women
seeking an abortion to not only get an ultrasound, but also forced them to listen
to details about the fetus. Many thanks Judge Dixon. My only complaint is that
it took two years to strike this law down, and that some states still enforce
this law. I think that this law is not only unconstitutional and a violation to
an individual’s rights, but it is also being used to guilt women into not
having abortions. I have always been with the understanding that persuasion
& emotion are not factors that should come into play when creating laws for
this nation. Maybe I was wrong.
There is so much that is ridiculous regarding this abortion
law that I almost don’t even know where to begin, so I will just cover my top
two. First, do our leaders and lawmakers really have so little faith in us that
they do not think that women are capable of making a responsible decision
regarding their own body? It’s like lawmakers are saying, “You want an
abortion? You silly girl. You have no idea what you are asking for, so here,
let me change your mind.” The majority
of women seeking abortions are quite competent and extremely capable of make
this very big life choice. Every woman has a fundamental right to make her own
choices regarding her body. Every human does for that matter. It is not the government’s
place to try and sway these decisions.
Secondly, who is paying for all of this? It’s one thing that the government is forcing
doctors to provide unnecessary and unwanted services to these women, but these
women, if uninsured and unable to pay for these services on their own, must
turn to government funding to pay for it. The average abortion cost around
$350-$600. Most of us could come up with that in a pinch, and be done. The
average cost of a doctor’s visit with an ultrasound, if uninsured, is anywhere
from $700-$1000, and then an additional $350-$600 would be added on top of that
if the woman remained with her choice to have an abortion. Some women may be
able to pay for these services themselves, but the majority of women in this
situation would not be able to. The financial burden would then fall where it
always does, the taxpayer.
I may not know a lot of things about life, nor do I claim to
be an expert on any one subject, but I do know one thing for sure. My body is
mine. What I do with my body is my choice and no one else should have a say in
that. Not even the government.
