Although the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the landmark case Roe v. Wade was made nearly 40 years ago, legalizing abortion for women in their first trimester of pregnancy, pro-choice advocates have continued their efforts to reverse the result. Recently, however, conservative politicians such as House Majority Leader John Boehner and Christopher Smith (R-NJ) have discussed methods of going around the law. Namely, with other bills.
The “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” has received national attention after Boehner and Smith held a press conference Thursday, in which Boehner stated that the bill would be put forth for debate in the House of Representatives. On Jan. 20, it was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, infuriating pro-choice and women’s rights supporters. The bill is monumentally frightening in that it promises to ban federal subsidies from buying insurance that would cover abortion.
In order to so, of course, the concept of abortion would have to be redefined in another context. If enacted, the law would allow abortion financing when it comes to rape and “in cases where a woman is in danger of death from her pregnancy but not of other serious health damage.” Each case would be as vaguely determined as the next.
The assumption is that Boehner, who according to the pro-life organization Americans United for Life expressed his interest in becoming “the most pro-life speaker ever,” is helping push the bill for the purpose of defunding Planned Parenthood and other clinics. But Planned Parenthood has never received funding from the federal government, so attempting to negate that would be worthless. It simply appears as if elected Republicans are grasping at straws in order to stay relevant.
After the much of the nation swung red last November, a record number of anti-abortion representatives were appointed at the local and national level. If they wanted to, congressional Republicans could do a lot of damage in terms of reversing 40 years’ worth of progress. The most hypocritical part of the entire ordeal is that while issues such as health care can’t be addressed at the federal level from their point of view, this fundamental right can be.
Despite the diversity America enjoys, the fact that the religious right is still gaining undue leverage in the political sphere is unfair to the rest of the country that doesn’t follow the same ideals. Perceived morality shouldn’t get in the way of personal choice. If women are once again made to feel as if they’re second-class citizens incapable of making their own decisions, the U.S. is going to take one giant step backwards.
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“pro-choice advocates have continued their efforts to reverse the result.”
Um, no . That should be anti-choice advocates. Pay attention, please.
“But Planned Parenthood has never received funding from the federal government, so attempting to negate that would be worthless. It simply appears as if elected Republicans are grasping at straws in order to stay relevant.”
Has fact checking ever occurred to the contributors or editors of this website? Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars every year. Check their annual reports, which are made easily available for anyone to go over on their website. This article is full of a disturbing number of blatant lies to serve a blatant political agenda. I’m disgusted.
Women voters should be up in arms against this egregious, intrusive, and contempt-filled legislation. We should march on the lawn of the House of Representatives in opposition to this blatant attempt to return women to second class citizenship.