rFor hundreds of years women have been fighting for equality and basic human rights. Within the last century many advances have been made in the movement and more laws have been made to prohibit sexism and allow women to choose for themselves. But in recent years women’s rights have begun to plummet and are being set back. We’ve been seeing much more of this in 2019, than in other years. Abortion rights are being taken away rapidly and no one is doing anything.

Heads have been turned to the issue after Ohio and a handful of other states made abortion illegal after nine weeks. Many people (including men) began to voice their opinions about the ridiculousness of legalising this rule. After all, most women don’t even recognise they’re carrying a child until weeks later. Alabama has been known for its high rate of conservative community and has also been continuously trying to shut down planned parenthood and other organizations that freely and safely provide abortions and birth control to women in crisis with financial obligations. “I think it is important to provide birth control and abortions to those who truly need it” Says Taylor Enyert, a freshman from Clackamas High School.

In 2018 over thirty eight abortion clinics closed that is twenty one percent fewer abortion clinics in the U.S. That is not only inconvenient to the people affected by this but also to the many many children being born into bad situations and affected by homelessness. Recent studies show that 2.5 MILLION children are affected by homelesssness in the U.S. “There will be a lot more unwanted children, which is not good for anyone, especially the children.” (in reference to abortion clinics being shut down).

The ironic thing is that most of the people in support of shutting down these clinics want nothing more than to force all the homeless people and their children off the streets. But closing down clinics will only increase the population of homeless/unwanted children. In addition, these states that are in favor of the pro-life movement also have the highest maternity mortality rates. Coincidence?

Also It is roughly estimated that twenty seven percent of all pro-life supporters are men. A majority of men in  politics with conservative values that are in favor of shutting down organizations like Planned Parenthood get to make the ultimate decision about women’s rights. Leaving little to no choice to the group of people it’s actually affecting. “Men don’t have to go through a lot of the things we do. Pregnancy, periods (ect.)” Says Lindsay Walker, A freshman at Clackamas High. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, most women agree it’s not fair that men are the ones making the decisions about their bodies. “Men do not know what it’s like being a woman.” Says Taylor Enyert.

Pro-life supporters will argue that an embryo (despite the fact that it cannot survive outside of a mothers womb till 25 weeks) are indeed just as alive as a newborn and they can feel pain. While scientifically determining when life begins has been largely debated certain studies suggest fetuses cannot feel pain until the third trimester. Keep in mind abortions are most commonly preformed during the first and (rarely) the very early second trimester of pregnancy. Most typically an abortion that is performed in the third trimester is the absolute last resort for a woman who has been stricken with life threatening pregnancy complications or fetus that suffers from terminal birth defects that will likely survive outside the womb.

The new law passed in Ohio that doesn’t allow women abortions past nine weeks fails to factor in desperate circumstances such as rape, insest, teenage pregnancy, and other complications that might arise with and during pregnancy. In fact a doctor who preforms an abortion on a rape victim seeking help, could get more prison time than the actual rapist himself in Alabama. This law has been passed in multiple states in 2019 including Ohio.