{"id":252566,"date":"2021-09-05T09:28:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-05T14:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=252566"},"modified":"2021-09-03T16:38:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T21:38:28","slug":"abortion-health-care-undermines-womens-autonomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-health-care-undermines-womens-autonomy\/","title":{"rendered":"How the ‘abortion is health care’ claim undermines women\u2019s autonomy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the wake of the <\/span>Supreme Court<\/span><\/a> denying requests to block the <\/span>Texas Heartbeat Act (SB 8)<\/span><\/a>, abortion proponents have taken to citing a familiar slogan: \u201cAbortion is health care.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Texas <\/span>bill<\/span><\/a> has earned the ire of many abortion proponents. Not only does it ban abortions that take place after a preborn child\u2019s heartbeat becomes detectable around\u00a0<\/span>six weeks gestation<\/span><\/a>, its private enforcement mechanism prevents the courts from blocking it. The law allows people to sue an abortionist, the abortion facility, or anyone who participates in an abortion (except for the mother of the aborted child) for up to $10,000 in statutory damages.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As of now, the Supreme Court has allowed the law to stand since it went into effect on September 1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abortion proponents like Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were quickly condemned the Court\u2019s ruling.\u00a0<\/span>Responding on Twitter, <\/span>Tlaib<\/span><\/a> claimed the Court\u2019s decision \u201csignaled its willingness to overturn Roe and put millions of women in danger.\u201d <\/span>
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\n<\/span>\u201cAbortion is healthcare,\u201d she tweeted. \u201cWe must do everything we can to fortify that fundamental right\u2014that means abolishing the filibuster and expanding the Court.\u201d <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Pelosi echoed these thoughts in a September 2 <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>claiming the Court chose to \u201cuphold a flagrantly unconstitutional assault on women\u2019s rights and health.\u201d She wrote,\u00a0<\/span>\u201c… SB8 delivers catastrophe to women in Texas, particularly women of color and women from low-income communities.\u00a0 Every woman, everywhere has the constitutional right to basic health care\u2026.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tlaib and Pelosi probably know that most would agree with the idea that it is wrong to deny a woman medical treatment based on her sex or race. Their argument equates restricting abortion access with health care discrimination, and the rhetoric is intended to inspire outrage against a supposed injustice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This broadened redefinition of <\/span>health care<\/span><\/a> allows abortion proponents to gloss over what an <\/span>abortion<\/span><\/a> entails and fill its targeted audience with heated emotions. A closer examination of this argument, however, exposes its empty rhetoric and reveals the unfortunate implications behind the \u201cabortion is health care\u201d slogan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n