Abortion in the South

By:Sebastian Alvarez

Throughout the history of the United States, the debate about Abortion has been a long fight between Pro-Choice and Pro-Life. Almost every state in the United States had an abortion law by the 1900. Many states have had different laws regulating the laws, but no law was ever put by the federal government until the supreme court case Roe vs. Wade.[1]  What led to the federal government to allow abortions in the United States was in 1969 when a woman by the name Norma L. McCorvey tried to get an legal abortion by lying that she had been raped which would entitle her a legal abortion under Texas law. After finding out that her abortion would not be eligible due to the police having no report about her rape.  After her failed attempt at obtaining an abortion she turned to two attorneys that would bring the case to the supreme court which would make abortion legal and a stating the state's interest had no say in woman's choice to obtain an abortion in 1973.

To this day abortion is still legal in the United States, but still well regulated in many southern states. Many states have made it their purpose to shut down many abortion clinics such as the Women's Health Clinic in Jackson, Mississippi which is being shutdown because of the new regulation laws passed in the state. Mississippi Governor Phillips Bryant stated that his mission is to make his state abortion-free.[2] Many other southern states such as Georgia and Florida have passed new regulations to halt the availability of abortions in the south. An example is the Florida House of Representatives passing a law making women wait twenty four hours in order to seek an abortion.[3] This has created a huge problem for women in the South that want to have the option to end their pregnancy. The inability for women to have an abortion may also lead to an unsafe number of abortions which would lead to many deaths, infections, and female mutilation. Another factor that has affected many abortion clinics is the threatening to doctors and nurses which work there and their safety being continually questioned.  Though the South has been tied with being part of the Bible Belt the ability for a woman to have a choice to end her pregnancy should not be tied with state's interest. Many churches opposed women to have abortion due to the strong religion beliefs that are practiced in the South. All of the many controversies have caused many problems in the South. My stance opinion is that all women should have the choice to obtain an abortion, no person may have a say when it comes to her termination of her child neither their interest should be involved when her decision is made. In a country where liberty is pride for the ability for someone to have say on their body is vital.

[1] National Abortion Federation, 1986. s.v. "History of Abortion." http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/history_abortion.html (accessed January 31, 2014).

[2] Camron, Irin, ed. Salon , 2012. s.v. "Abortion options fade in South." http://www.salon.com/2012/04/12/abortion_options_fade_in_south/ (accessed January 31, 2014).

[3] France-Presse, Agence, ed. The Raw Story, 2012. s.v. "Anti-abortion initiatives inch forward in southern U.S.." http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/02/pro-life-initiatives-inch-forward-in-southern-u-s/ (accessed January 31, 2014).