By now, I’m sure most of you have heard of the abortion law passed in Texas. This law bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It also allows citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps a woman get an abortion—even those who give the woman a ride to the clinic or provide financial assistance. What is more disturbing is that there is no exception for rape cases or incest. My issue with this law is the danger to women’s health.
This ban will only stop safe abortions, not abortion altogether. In the NPR article, Dr. Bhavik Jumar mentions his concern about people who don’t have the ability to make it out of Texas to access a safe abortion, but he will still comply with the law. There is very narrow exceptions when it comes to the pregnancy risking women’s health in the bill. And because the wording doesn’t cover every instance, doctors may not want to cross the line.
The danger of this law is that women who get an abortion often get one because of health complications that arise during the pregnancy. For example, when I was 18 weeks pregnant, I remember reading a story about a woman who had to make the tough decision to end her pregnancy, at 18 weeks, due to complications that wouldn’t let her baby survive. The doctors told her the baby would not make it, so her options were continuing with the pregnancy, putting her own health at risk, and knowing that the baby wouldn’t make it, or end the pregnancy now. I turned to my husband and told him, “That’s like me right now, having to choose not to continue with my pregnancy; this is so tough, I’ve already felt the baby moving and everything.†My heart instantly broke for her.
Other times health complications occur before a woman even knows she’s pregnant, and with this law, women will have no options. Amanda, a writer I follow on Instagram, recently shared her abortion story. After having her tubes tied for years, she ended up getting pregnant, and the baby was stuck in her fallopian tubes. She and her husband decided to have the baby removed, or else she would have died. She was almost eight weeks along; with the Texas abortion law, she wouldn’t have the option to get an abortion. You can read her full story on her blog.
I remember listening to an old podcast episode of The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey (I wish I could find the episode to link it to this post), and the guest told her abortion story. She went to the clinic, and people were protesting in front of the building. After the procedure was over, she left through the back door, a flood of different emotions washed over her, and she remembered thinking, “where were the back-door Christians?†Meaning, where were the compassionate Christians? And that really stuck with me. That’s the Christian I strive to be.
It doesn’t matter what the reason for the abortion is; that’s between God and the woman. Plus, Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV) says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured.â€
My heart breaks for the women who have had to make this difficult decision but now, even more, that the women of Texas won’t have that option if health complications occur during pregnancy. I understand the controversy of the law, but honestly, this is more about the safety and health of women than anything else.
For abortion resources: https://providecare.org/financial-resources-abortion/
With Love,
Heidy
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Heidy, I am so glad you have written about this from a christian perspective. For a long time I really didn’t agree with abortion. This was when I listened to what every other christian told me I should believe. As I have gotten older, I have learnt to understand the need for it for some women.
I don’t know if I will ever find myself in the position of needing an abortion, but if I did I’d want to know that it was there for me to choose if thats what I wanted to do. I know that removing the safe way to have an abortion for all of those women is not the solution. It will just mean that women will still get those abortions, just unsafely. And thats what scares me the most.
It breaks my heart that once again its women’s rights to their bodies that have been affected here. More funding needs to go into sex education and contraception being more available for everybody. Then abortion would be the last resort. I hope that the government in Texas really consider this law and change it.
I agree with you 100%. We do need more sex education and affordable contraception. There is a lot of flaws in our system, here in the U.S. but it seems like our government cares more about power than helping its people. But that’s a whole other subject. LOL. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. 🙂