Alabama’s abortion ban not about protecting children
I was once asked if I would prefer a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew as president. Leaving aside the misconception that these are the only faiths practiced in this country, I answered “none of the above.”
If devoutly practicing two Abrahamic faiths for 22 years (Christianity for 17 and converting to Islam for five) has taught me anything, it’s that separation of faith and state is imperative to the successful and peaceful operation of both institutions. Intertwining the two poses threats to the freedom of religion for everyone. The reason this country ensures religious freedom is because of the dangers that governing the perspective of one religion presents to an increasingly diverse population.
I fervently support everyone’s right to practice their own religion, but I think mission work and religious zealousness is maladaptive. The harm that coupling that with the power to legislate over the masses is dangerous.
In Connecticut, we see religious zealousness take root when faith-based abortion clinics mislead women and run the clock on their abortion options. Fortunately, we live in a state that refuses to confiscate a woman’s choice to her type of health care. On Thursday, state lawmakers passed House Bill 7070, which regulates faith-based pregnancy centers and prohibits them from engaging in false and deceptive advertising practices regarding abortions.
Last week, Alabama reminded us of the risks of politicized religious zealousness after the state legislature passed the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country, which amounts to a neartotal ban on terminating any pregnancy, for any reason.
Whether you believe abortion is right or wrong is immaterial. Instead, it’s important to consider how much you want the government to inhibit decisions you make with your body, especially as a result of lobbying from religions you may or may not be a part of.
I often think it’s imperative for us to listen to opinions and proposals from those across the aisle. But a requisite for that is a sound agreement on the issue. If I am unable to trust your ability to adequately understand and acknowledge the problem, I cannot possibly trust your proposal for a solution.
The fact is, since legalization, the rates of abortion have dramatically reduced over the years. According to the CDC, from 2006 to 2015, the number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions decreased 24 percent, 26 percent, and 19 percent, respectively. (The CDC calculates the rate of abortion as the number per 1,000 women and the ratio as the comparison of abortions to live births.)
But religious zealots don’t care about the reduction of abortions at all. Instead, they’re debating what stage of gestation constitutes life in the womb while ignoring the life and safety of the woman.
While the legislators in Alabama want to claim they’re waging this war on behalf of defenseless babies, by my count Alabama cares more about zygotes in the womb than they do about the children who come out.
When it comes to the state’s record on providing an adequate education for its students, Alabama ranks worst in the country. And what quality of child care will these children have since Alabama’s FMLA laws are ranked in the bottom 10 of the country, according to a study conducted the National Partnership for Women and Families.
When it comes to the state’s scorecard for passing any sort of reasonable gun control, even in the wake of ever-increasing number of school shootings, Alabama received an “F” from Giffords Law Center’s Annual Gun Law Score Card, an organization that has found a direct correlation in the decreasing rates of gun death with the increasing strength of gun laws.
When it comes to regular, old-fashioned health care, Alabama ranks 46 in the country for access and quality.
With a ban on abortion and a maladaptive prospective on climate change, it’s unclear what the environmental future holds for those defenseless zygotes. Alabama ranks 42 on air and water quality and is in the bottom 25 rankings for pollution.
One thing Alabama is really good at — sending people to prison. The Sentencing Project ranks Alabama as the 10th highest state for imprisonment rates. The state currently houses nearly 4 million people in prisons — that’s almost five times more than the population of Rhode Island. And when it comes to funding this sizable prison population, Alabama is estimated to spend more than $15,000 per inmate and just about $9,000 per student.
With Alabama boasting a high prevalence of food insecurity, a high infant mortality rate and a low prevalence of neighborhood amenities, it really is impossible to support the position that these antichoice laws are protecting children when there stands to be no evidence of that in practice.
Alabama will be mired in legal battles for some time before this law ever takes effect, if at all. But we cannot lay complacent hoping that this legislation never reaches its potential while challenges from Alabama and six other states work their way to the Supreme Court. Instead, we should behave as though there is a clear and present danger in even the potential of overturning Roe V. Wade and enacting antichoice laws that are based in religious extremism.
For me, it’s hard to reconcile the hypocrisy in the political right’s incessant lobbying to ensure the government isn’t ever too big to take away gun rights, but also actively working to build up government enough to confiscate abortion rights.
That’s just one reason I know these actions were never about protecting children. They’re about controlling people and securing political power that disenfranchises millions. Regardless of whether you’d like access to abortion for yourself or disagree with it completely, we should all consider the harm in codifying prevention of it in law and inviting the government to meddle in the decisions we make for our own bodies.
Welcoming governmental oversight of personal matters like this opens the doors to much more heinous legislation, and none of us want to see what horrors that future may hold.