Restriction In Texas

Abortion has been around since the earliest times. The first recorded abortion recipe dates back to 2600 B.C. (“History of Abortion”). Ancient societies supported abortion

Abortions were widely used in the early eighteen hundreds and kept secret due public scrutineer. Not only were they considered against the law in some places but were risky due to high risk of infection from unsterile equipment used to perform the actions.” Without today’s current technology, maternal and infant mortality rates during childbirth were extraordinarily high. “(National abortion Federation, 2016) as time contained states changed and modified their laws to accommodate political agendas, these opposed to legal abortion had begun to fight absent any stated funded abortion clines. Then there was Roe v. Wade this was the first major Supreme Court battle based on abortion laws and ethics. Roe v. Wade decision of the courts said that they “considered the constitutionality of a Texas statute made it a crime to obtain an abortion except when it was necessary to save the life of the mother”. (Harris, 2014) There was another Supreme Court case that changed the views of the courts based on how they judge the frame work of decision on the trimester model. The ethics involved in this are not just solely left to the mother of the potential life but in the network of people

Before the 1973 ruling of the case of Roe v Wade, the estimated average number of illegal abortions every year ranged from 200,000 to 1.5 million. The methods used were violently dangerous including women ingesting toxic substances such as bleach and detergents which often times was ineffective. Women around the country were concerned that the anti-abortion laws conflicted with a person’s right to privacy and equal protection given by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. Gale University’s William Sullivan explains ”The right to abort unborn children is not specifically protected by the Constitution, and prior to 1973, abortion legislation had been understood to be limited to the power of the states per the Tenth

While the fight to legalize abortion, for reasons other than a mothers health concerns, was won, states such as Texas are now reconsidering the regulations, which go along with such right. In 2004 the State of Texas introduced the Woman’s Right to Know Act, which “requires that all abortions at or after 16 weeks’ gestation be performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC)” (Colman, S., & Joyce, T. (2010), p. 775). Roe V Wade’s Supreme Court decision makes it federal law that abortion be legal, therefore the state of Texas cannot make a law specifically prohibiting abortions around this time. However, they can implement acts such as the one discussed above to hinder a women’s access to such rights. By implementing the Woman’s Right to Know Act, the state of Texas is allowing abortion, however it makes access to it within the state of Texas out of reach for the majority of women. In the time following the effect of this law “not one of Texas’s 54 nonhospital abortion providers met the requirements of a surgical center” (Colman, S., & Joyce, T. (2010), p. 775. Following that, a

Before 1973, abortion access was determined by state legislature for each individual state with no consistency across the United States. Some states allowed abortions but most state statues heavily restricted or completely banned abortion. The restricted states would generally only allow abortion in the event of rape, incest, fetal anomalies, or the woman’s life is at risk. The state of Texas enforced a state statute that made it illegal for an abortion to be performed unless the woman’s

Wade) that a women had the right to seek legal abortion and that right was a fundamental right, there were many debates on the validly of the ruling. In March of 2016, the Supreme Court showed how divided the court is when it comes to abortion which they made legal back in 1973. It is not so much if a woman has the right to an abortion as it5 is who pays or helps pay for it. Texas put in place a series of “stop” measures on abortion by requiring very constricted rules for abortion in that state. In Texas, as many as twenty legal abortion clinics were closed due to the strict rules governing their clinics. The questions for the Supreme Court is if these rules are for the health of the women and fetus or a way of stopping abortions altogether. The states cannot help pay for abortions according to the President’s Executive Order which is another issue. Again, the Federal Government is controlling the lives of women by citing the Affordable Care Act or ACA and court rulings. Health Insurance does not pay for abortions and the government supports the health industry. September 30, 1976 the United States House of Representatives passed the Hype Amendment. The amendment was presented by Henry Hyde, a republican from Illinois. Clearly the Hyde Amendment was a victory for the pro-life movement. This amendment has been attached to appropriations bills prohibiting the federal government from funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment is a “rider” because it has been attached to many legislative actions through the years since 1993. Even President Clinton was successful in changing the wording of Hyde expanding the list of ways that the federal government could use funds under Medicaid in some states helps low-income women receive state help to pay for abortions. More states are changing, gradually, and are helping women receive safe and affordable abortions. There are laws have been passed for example the Stupak-Pitts Amendment to the

Following the Supreme Court’s judgment on Roe and Doe, among the initial federal legislative reactions was enacting restrictions on the utilization of federal funds for abortions. For instance, there were restrictions on Medicaid money, and this was referred to as the Hyde Amendment. However, the restrictions were challenged almost immediately in the courts. Consequently, two classifications of the public funding cases were heard and judged by the Supreme Court. Principally, these involve funding restrictions for the elective or non-therapeutic abortions and funding limitations for medically necessary or therapeutic abortions.

Wade is a famous case that has set the foundation for legislation in regards to abortion. After 1973, the numbers of illegal abortions declined and the number of legal abortions rose. This helped prevent medical related deaths and it also increased the number of facilities that were available to women, making it easier for them to get an abortion closer to home. This facilitated the fundamental right of abortion that women have. But, somehow, states have found ways to go around abortion and complicate the process.

Texas continues to fight women’s rights groups for the life of the “unborn child” and has won on many levels. According to the Texas Abortion Laws, Texas includes mandatory ultrasound imaging and parental consent for minors, and women must make at least four visits to a doctor and receive an ultrasound. Women may only receive a third trimester abortion if it is necessary to prevent death or substantial risk of serious impairment to a women’s physical or mental health, or if fetus has severe and irreversible abnormality. Texas considers an illegal abortion if it destroys the vitality or life of child in birth or before (which otherwise would have been born alive); operating a facility without a license, failure to meet Board of Health standards, or failure to make reports to Department of Health; act preformed after pregnancy with intent to cause termination of pregnancy other than for purpose of birth of live fetus or removal

In 1992, Roe v. Wade was upheld in Casey v. Planned Parenthood. However, the Supreme Court had become significantly more conservative in that time, and this ruling favored the states‘ rights to establish tighter abortion restrictions. In Pennsylvania, women were only permitted first trimester abortions if they had been given information about the fetus’s gestational state and the dangers of having the procedure. A married women was also required to inform her husband prior to having the abortion, and minors had to seek approval from at least one parent unless given a legal bypass. On top of these restrictions, there was also a mandatory 24-hour waiting period (McBride, “Casey v. Planned Parenthood”).

A recent bill was passed in Texas by Gov. Rick Perry which was one of the country toughest restriction on abortion. According to the Texas House Bill, abortion will be banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy. A woman is a minor unless proof can be provided to verify her age. This is to be followed properly by all the health clinics and abortion clinics

The Hyde Amendment (HA) was one of the many created to restrict access to abortion; it specifically restricts Medicaid funding and is renewed annually. Created in 1976, the Hyde Amendment bans federal funding for abortion with the exception of rape, incest or endangers the womans life. These exceptions have an evident history of being omitted, reinstated, redefined and debated throughout the existence of the amendment. “Each modification has simultaneously reflected and reinforced deep cultural ambiguities about the definitions of these circumstances” (SOURCE 3). “One of the first concerns immediately following the HA initial implementation was whether large numbers of poor women would resort to illegal or self-induced abortions as a result of the public policy change” (SOURCE

Abortions dates back all the way to some of the first written evidence of abortion was in the Code of Hammurabi in 1760 BCE. It

Although the right to abortion was legalized at the Roe v. Wade case over forty years ago, as discussed by West, Briggs and Smith, the decision was mainly based on a human’s right to privacy rather than through the lens of gender equality. Basing abortion as a choice of private matter rather than women letting women make the decision because it is their right and choice to publicly or privately. The government implemented the Hyde Amendment which is the first of many restrictions. The Hyde Amendment barricades federal money such as Medicaid from funding abortions except in situations where the pregnancy was attained from rape or incest or if the mother’s life is in danger. This is mainly a limit to women of color, indigenous women and poor

Throughout the United States of America different states have different laws on abortion. In some states a woman can receive an abortion up to being twenty-four weeks pregnant, while in other states she may only be able to receive an abortion up to being twenty weeks pregnant. Before states had the right to decide on their own laws pertaining to abortion, the federal government made abortions illegal. During the time that abortions were illegal in the US there was a huge push to legalize it. The people who pushed for abortions to be legal were worried about illegal abortions. Before 1973 and the court case of Roe versus Wade, abortions were illegal. Due to that fact, women were doing in-home abortions or going to someone, who was not qualified to do so, to get an abortion. These were very unsafe practices. Sometimes these “abortions” were unsuccessful and the child would still be born but with birth defects. Or if the abortion was successful in