Thursday, December 8, 2016

What Will Our Future Hold?

Many people have a lot to say in regards to the female body when it comes to reproduction. Many believe that abortions should be illegal and obsess over whether the mother is being “selfish” in her behaviors while carrying the child. These are often the same people who will do nothing to help insure the health of the baby after birth. Strangers in public have taken it upon themselves to tell pregnant women what they should and should not put into their bodies. Who are we to tell anyone what she should or should not do to her body? However, when it comes to a fetus, everyone feels that they should be able to express their opinions while the opinion of the mother often goes unheard or ignored.
When a woman gets pregnant, she is no longer seen as her own person. The pregnant woman is responsible for providing a safe environment for her fetus for nine months and then is expected to drop everything for the next 18 years to raise her child. Once a woman becomes pregnant, societal standards dictate that her life is no longer her own and to think of herself as independent would be selfish. By making sure the fetus is given the best chance at life despite what it may do to the mother provides the fetus with rights no other person has.
Access to reproductive rights has often been used as a weapon in order to threaten women into making choices that aren’t truly theirs. The case of Walker v. Pierce demonstrates how the doctor in question would not treat patients that were poor and pregnant with their third child unless they agreed to sterilization after giving birth. These women were likely desperate and needed medical attention and for the sake of their well-being and that of their child agreed to a procedure that they ordinarily would not have. Women, especially those with limited resources, are often coerced or forced into making certain decisions, regardless of how they feel. Depo-Provera was often used as a form of coercion and illustrates many issues regarding reproductive rights. Firstly, this drug was proven to be harmful to women and was not even approved to use on animals. Additionally, women were not educated on the side effects and access to any form of welfare was often threatened unless the woman agreed to receive the injection.
Given the most recent election and current political climate, reproductive rights are likely to be threatened and more precarious than they have been within the past few years. Many women fear how Donald Trump and Mike Pence will influence their future medical care and the options available in order to express reproductive freedom. In the final presidential debate, Donald Trump promised to abolish Roe v. Wade immediately, thus leaving the decision of whether abortion should be legal to individual states. Whether he is actually able to do this is another story, but it leaves many people panicking. If decisions regarding abortion were left up to the states, many women would be left without the option of abortion, resulting in women seeking unsafe options or traveling out of state, which is not feasible for everyone. With the abolishment of abortions, an influx of young, poor, pregnant women would likely ensue because this demographic would not have the resources available to take preventative actions or seek help after. These women would give birth to babies and likely not have the resources to care for the child, and the cycle continues.  
Donald Trump’s vice president Mike Pence is anti-abortion and has been a force behind the movement to defund Planned Parenthood. While abolishing Roe v. Wade could limit access to abortions, the defunding of Planned Parenthood would further reduce women’s access to important healthcare resources. Planned Parenthood provides women many services in addition to abortion to insure women receive the comprehensive reproductive care they are entitled to. Most of the care is preventative and educates those who come through the doors. It is estimated that Planned Parenthood manages to reach 1.5 million youth alone per year. Along with the centers spread across the country, the website can provide online users a lot of information in a private setting.
Under the Obama Administration, strides were made in order to insure that women have access to contraception regardless of whether their employer and the insurance company agrees and that Planned Parenthood receives reimbursements from Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. These strides have declared that to do anything of this nature would be breaking federal law. While the Obama Administration has made leaps and bounds, these accomplishments will not necessarily be safe under the Trump Administration depending on who is appointed attorney general. On public forums, women have been advising other women to get the contraceptive IUD, which can be effective for up to 12 years. The IUD is a form of birth control that would not be influenced by policy if the patient chose to get the implant soon. However, this is yet another example of how women are strong-armed into making choices that are not entirely theirs. While personally an IUD sounds scary, if that is the best option in order for me to have access to effective and reliable contraceptives, I would probably make the choice to get an IUD. Women have also been recommended to stock up on Plan B and other emergency contraceptives incase Planned Parenthood and other purveyors of emergency contraceptives are defunded making these products hard to come by.
Ultimately, despite the opinions of politicians or of her next door neighbor, what a woman choses to do with her body should be a decision that is ultimately her choice. It is her body that will experience the aftermath of an abortion, it is her body that will carry a baby for 9 months and be encouraged to take vitamins and limit alcohol and caffeine, stop smoking and eat a well balanced diet. Her career will be affected at least by maternity leave or if she chooses to stay at home with her child could be challenging to continue years down the line. She will be taking care of the child for the next 18 years. And if her spouse chooses to stay home so she can work, that is their choice, but the mother will continue to be criticized for being selfish enough to choose her career over child rearing. Regardless of the decision made, it is likely not an easy one and not one that is made at the drop of a hat. Men often make the argument that they would love to carry a child, and while they say that, it is impossible. Until it is possible for men to carry their children, the woman should be the only one in charge of her body and in order to do so, we must have full access to our reproductive rights.






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