While many Americans are distressed by the multi-state ongoing effort to challenge and ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade, analysis shows that the federally protected right to have an abortion is not illegal, it’s just impossible because of, you know, laws.
In this nation, everyone has a right to individual privacy and bodily autonomy, and by extension, women can terminate pre-viabable pregnancies for any reason. Texas signed a new legislation that bans abortion if the heartbeat of the fetus can be heard, which can happen as early as six weeks into pregnancy. But, hey, that doesn’t mean that it’s illegal to get an abortion. You just have a really tight window for abortion. Like, you have to get it before almost anyone would know they were pregnant, so be sure to stay on top of that if you want to have the right that you totally do have.
Alabama signed legislation in 2019 that banned abortion all together, with the punishment of life in prison for doctors who perform one. The good news is, it’s currently unenforceable because it so blatantly violates the constitution. So if you’re in Alabama, rest assured that your right to an abortion has not been taken; your government is just working very hard to take it. But if they do succeed that’s no big deal, because people can just travel to another state! Just probably not Texas because of that heartbeat rule that they have.
People who need to get an abortion should also probably avoid Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia too, because each of them reportedly only have one abortion clinic left in each respective state. One legal inaccessible, insufficient, underfunded clinic.
There are also eighteen states that currently have government-mandated delays before abortion, including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
In these states, people are forced to delay their abortions for at least 24 hours while they receive state-mandated anti-abortion information, and in a few states, patients are also required to make two trips to the clinic: one to receive anti-choice information and then another one the next day for their actual abortion. But, again, this emotional warfare and waste of time doesn’t mean abortion is illegal! It’s just so taxing and out of reach that it’s insane to think that this is the reality of this country’s reproductive healthcare system.
So despite popular misbelief, abortions are totally legal, (unless Alabama has anything to say about it — and then if they succeed, the floodgates are open!) And they are totally easy to get as long as you have insurance, live in a state without anti-abortion mandates, and you’re able to schedule an appointment before six weeks of pregnancy! Impossible, but not illegal (due to laws!)
