Pa. women, vote this fall as if your life depends on it
With the constitutional right to have an abortion gone, many states are quickly enacting bans, sometimes with no exceptions.
Being forced to bear a child in a high-risk pregnancy can be a death sentence for a woman.
Abortion opponents claim they value life. The staunchest want all conceived children to be born, regardless of the circumstances. Why don’t they equally value the lives of mothers? They’re hypocrites. They ignore the danger they are placing some women in.
Every time a woman dies from pregnancy complications who could have been saved with an abortion, these zealots will have blood on their hands.
About 700 women die annually in the U.S. as a result of pregnancy or its complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Considering that about 3.6 million children were born in 2020, death during pregnancy is rare. Odds are it won’t happen.
The question is how much higher would that number be if some pregnancies had not been ended to save the lives of mothers? I fear we are going to find out.
The number likely still will be low compared to the number of births. But we’re not talking about numbers. We’re talking about people.
Is it fair for the husband and previous children of a woman who dies needlessly from pregnancy complications to lose their wife and mother?
Is it fair for the parents and siblings of a woman who dies under such circumstances to lose their daughter and sister?
Pennsylvania women could be at risk depending on who is elected governor in November.
Republican candidate Doug Mastriano wants a total ban on abortion after six weeks, generally the time when a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Mastriano would allow no exceptions.
It doesn’t matter if a mother’s health is at risk.
That’s not just wrong. It’s coldblooded.
So are bans that don’t allow exceptions for pregnancies that are the result of rape or incest.
Abortion opponents stress that women must be responsible for their actions. Women don’t ask to be raped.
No one should force a woman, violated in the most horrible way imaginable, to bear a child.
You have to wonder how public officials who demonize all abortions would feel if their wife, sister, daughter or granddaughter had an ectopic pregnancy or other threatening complications. Or was raped and became pregnant.
I suspect some would have whiplash from changing their position so quickly.
You’re probably wondering where I stand on abortion.
I believe it is wrong, except for pregnancies that threaten the health of the mother or were the result of rape or incest.
But that’s my opinion. I believe women should have the right to make their own decision.
The reality is this: Not all women are mature enough or have the means to raise a child. They may be too young. They may not have the support of the father. They may not have the support of their family. They may not have the cash.
Forcing them to have the child is a death sentence of another kind — their future may be doomed.
A woman without the support of the father or family and without sufficient resources may be destined to live in poverty. The average price of hospital births in Pennsylvania was nearly $20,000 in 2020, according to a CBS News investigation. Even with insurance, the out-of-pocket cost can be a few thousand dollars depending on the state, according to the Health Care Cost Institute.
Raising a child is expensive. For low-income workers, day care is not an option. It costs too much compared with their wages.
And it’s not as if the government will step up and provide free child care, free food, free clothing, free health care and other support.
Republicans already rant about how much is spent on welfare, food stamps and other benefits. Do you think they are going to increase those benefits to account for unwanted births if abortions are outlawed?
Such decisions don’t affect just women. Couples who decided not to have children and planned their lives accordingly will have to change their plans, too.
Remember, not all precautions are foolproof. Contraceptives can fail. Even responsible couples can get pregnant when they don’t want to.
Prohibiting abortions is not going to stop them. They will be performed illegally, just as they were before Roe v. Wade allowed them. Underground clinics could endanger the lives of women, too.
An ABC News/ Washington Post poll in April found little appetite for abortion bans with no exceptions.
The poll found 82% of people believed abortion should be legal when a woman’s physical health is endangered and 79% said it should be legal when the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest.
Polls of registered voters in Pennsylvania by Franklin & Marshall College consistently have found that half or more support the right to have an abortion in some circumstances.
Those opinions would be ignored if Mastriano is elected governor in Pennsylvania, with a Republican-controlled Legislature to carry out his wishes.
Pennsylvania women should vote in November as if their lives literally depended on it.