Message from the First Lady

FROM THE FIRST LADY

The right of a woman to choose abortion or choose life for her unborn child

By Cathelean Steele, Founder, Justice for Girls

The Supreme Court allows a new Texas law that bans most abortions. The law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually around six weeks – before some women know they are pregnant. This law goes further and allows private citizens to sue Texas abortion providers who violate the law. There are no exceptions in this law even in the case of rape or incest. I am old enough to remember when pregnant women used clothes hangers and put their lives in the hands of unlicensed doctors. Therefore, I decided to interview a few women to get their perspective on this Texas law.

Interview #1 – “I cannot believe that in our progressive society the Supreme Court would allow the rights of women to be taken away. Row V. Wade was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive restrictions.” Interview #2 – “The Republicans in Texas do not realize that women will find a way to abort an unwanted child even if it means going to another state or resorting to tactics of the pass. Where there is a will there is a way. I also believe that the Due Process of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which provides a fundamental “right to privacy” that protects a woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion will stand.”

Interview#3 – “I have a question to the Republicans that passed this restrictive law. Who is going to provide for all of the unwanted babies? I don’t think that they thought about the financial burden that will be placed on the welfare system.” The question asked during my third interview caused me to pause and think - who is going to provide for all of the unwanted babies. This question led me to research the number of abortions in Texas in 2020. I found that Texas facilities performed about 54,000 abortions SCLC National Magazine/ Fall 2021 Issue

in 2020. I myself began to wonder how the state was going to enforce this very restrictive law. The key to the enforcement of this law relies on the citizens of Texas suing abortion providers over alleged violations. The person bringing the lawsuit is entitled to at least $10,000 in damages if prevail in court. Furthermore, Texas Right to Life, the largest antiabortion group in Texas launched a website to receive tips about suspected violations. The Texas Right to Life group has attorneys ready to bring lawsuits. Steven Schwinn, constitutional law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago stated “the Supreme Court has given other states a roadmap for circumscribing Roe vs Wade.” On a more positive note - Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said that the Justice Department would continue to protect women who seek an abortion in Texas. The Freedom of Access to clinic Entrances Act, or FACE, is a 1994 federal law that guarantees access to entrances of clinics that offer reproductive health services, including those that offer abortions. Under this law, it is illegal to threaten, obstruct or injure a person seeking access to such a clinic or to damage the clinic’s property, punishable by a fine or imprisonment. Research shows that in Arkansas, Republican state Senator Jason Rapert tweeted that he planned to file legislation mirroring Texas’ law for the Legislature to take up when it reconvenes this fall. In Mississippi, Republican state Senator Chris McDaniel said that he would “absolutely consider filing legislation to match the Texas law. When questioned about the Texas Law, President Biden commented to Politics that “restrictive Texas abortion law is “almost un-American, creates vigilante system.” President Biden we need you to become more vocal on this issue. Speak up and speak out for the rights of women. We in American have fought for the freedom of others for years. We spent twenty years in Afghanistan and part of that fight was to give women certain rights, such as the right to an education. Women in America should not have to win the same battle that we already won on January 22, 1973. If this country allows a Texas law to take away the right of a woman to choose to have an abortion – what right will they take away next. There seems to be a new pattern forming in America. In 2013 in a 5-4 vote the Supreme Court gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Since then various states have added voter ID laws and restrictions aimed once again at the enfranchisement of African Americans. African Americans are once again fighting the battle to have the right to vote without having to deal with unnecessary restrictions. The right to choose to have an abortion has no color boundaries.

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes said it best, “wake up everybody the world won’t get no better if we just let it be.” Wake up everybody, we took a nap on progress while others were making plans to take away the rights we worked so long to earn. Cathelean C. Steele