Roe vs Wade

Those against abortion and a women’s ability to access abortions have long been putting into place laws and regulations at the state level which, on the surface, appear to be valid concerns for women’s health and well-being, but when looking deeper, are really just attempts to make access to abortion so difficult that it nearly becomes inaccessible. This is seen through the enforcement of strict building codes and regulations, and while regulations like these are important, particularly in healthcare facilities, sometimes they go to the extreme. In Texas, after all facilities were ordered to have hallways wide enough for two gurneys to pass by each other, many were forced to close as they could not comply with this new regulation. Facilities closing, particularly in large states like Texas, is detrimental to women’s access as the nearest facility may be too far away to travel to, especially if money is an issue for these women. An additional rule that has been put into place is that a woman wait 72 hours after abortion counseling until going through with her choice to have that abortion. While this appears to simply be a law to ensure a woman is certain of her decision, it is not medically necessary and limits access as women can not always remain near the clinic to wait their 3 day period to access their abortion. During this time, it is likely other organizations or people with differing views will attempt to change a woman’s mind and deter her from accessing the abortion she has the right to. These are just a few things which limit a woman’s access to abortion. The idea of the government, whether on the state or federal level, placing laws and regulations upon the people for no reason but to deter or make it too difficult to access things is not entirely new. While learning about how difficult accessing abortion can be due to these laws, I couldn’t help but think of the ways in which the government had once limited African Americans ability to access the vote. While legally African American males could vote in 1870, laws such as having to know how to read, or having a grandfather who votes severely limited access to the right to vote, not to mention pure intimidation by people opposed to their voting, similarly to the way women looking to access abortion are sometimes pursued aggressively in an attempt to change their minds. While these two rights, voting and abortion, differ greatly, the small roadblocks put into place succeeded in preventing people from exercising their rights. I am proud to say that intimidation and regulations on the black population voting are no longer prevalent in the way they were soon after 1870, I cannot say the same about women attempting to access abortion today. The fight to make it as impossible as can be to access an abortion continues, while the fight to give woman available healthcare pushes back upon it.