six weeks notice c h a n g i n g a b o r t i o n l aw s c r e at e a c l i m at e o f f e a r and suspicion by Andrea neu
W
hen Jane was a 16-year-old high school student, she discovered she was pregnant seven weeks after conception. At her cousin’s insistence, she went to her local Planned Parenthood in Hackensack, New Jersey. They discussed her options, which included family services counseling, adoption, and abortion. They reviewed the possible outcomes in each scenario, and she considered each option. Without parental support, she knew she could not safely engage in a fullterm pregnancy. Although it was “painful, mentally and physically,” Jane says, “I was relieved to have had the sources and opportunity to choose for myself as well as the emotional support.” Ultimately, she decided to schedule an abortion. While a traumatic experience in its own right, Jane’s abortion story is shared by many other women who find themselves in a position where they cannot support or raise a child. But if she lived in present-day Texas, things would’ve been considerably more complicated. Last May, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 8, “The Heartbeat Bill,” banning any abortion in which there is a detection of cardiac activity, specifically at the sixweek mark—incidentally, when most women discover their pregnancies according to AmericanPregnancy. org. No exceptions will be made for incidents of incest or rape. The Guttmacher Institute calculates that nearly 18% of early pregnancies end in abortion. There is a wide contrast in laws and beliefs surrounding the issue depending on the state in which a woman resides, and 58% of women of reproductive age currently live in states considered “hostile” towards abortion rights. According to HealthLine, fetal heartbeats usually begin within five to six weeks of conception. This
24
The Lexington Line • A/W 21 • vol 8 • no 1
