Since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the heavily right-wing leaning Supreme Court justices with the Dobbs decision, Republican-controlled states have been passing ever more draconian anti-abortion laws that go so far as to place the health and safety of pregnant women in those states at risk. These laws tend to have a very short period (or none at all) where abortion is allowed, and many offer little to no exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening situations. In addition, the laws are so strict that doctors and medical facilities are reluctant to treat women with pregnancy complications for fear of reprisal. There have been challenges in court to these statutes, though none have successfully invalidated the laws to this point. But what I have not seen so far are challenges that call out this anti-abortion legislation as both discriminatory and chauvinistic, and that may be the best path to bringing an end to these misguided attempts to regulate abortion.
I am not a legal professional, so I do not know the technicalities of challenging anti-abortion legislation nor whether some of what I am suggesting has already been attempted. But from the perspective of an outsider looking in, it certainly seems like the laws in place (particularly the ones in my state of Texas) heavily discriminate against the women involved. The entire burden of the pregnancy is placed on the woman, as she is compelled to carry a pregnancy to term, and there is no mention of the man who was involved in the conception. This hearkens back to an outdated, chauvinistic legal system where the laws treat men and women differently and act in a discriminatory way towards the females involved.
If the state is going to compel the woman to have the child on the premise that it is protecting the unborn baby (a very questionable and dictatorial stance to begin with), then it must also compel the man who helped conceive that child to support the mother through the pregnancy and beyond. If it does not, the man can simply walk away from the situation while the mother is forced into nine months of pregnancy along with caring for the child after the birth. And while some will argue that there are already laws in place that allow the mother to seek financial support from the father, those still place the burden on the woman. She must take legal action against the man if he refuses to provide support, yet the state is forcing her to carry out the pregnancy. And many single mothers out there can attest to just how ineffective the existing laws are, especially if the man is dead set against providing support. If the mother is compelled by the state to go through with the pregnancy, the father should also be compelled to provide the proper support.
There are, of course, complications with this, but those can be addressed without too much difficulty. DNA tests can easily determine the correct father, so there should be little reason to dispute who conceived the child. The woman may not want the father directly involved, especially in the case of rape, but he should at a minimum be required to provide financial support. If custody of the child is in dispute, that can be worked out later by determining who is the most fit parent, just as in the case of divorce. And if the woman wants to put the child up for adoption, perhaps the father would have the first right of custody before other parents are sought out.
If the man involved is not compelled to support the child, that creates a situation of inequality where the woman is being required to carry out a life-changing (and possibly life-threatening) act while the man is released from most, if not all, responsibility. That results in a chauvinistic system, and it is no coincidence that the existing laws have been voted in place by predominantly male legislators. If these laws placed greater responsibility on the men involved, almost certainly they would face much more resistance through the legislative process. But since the burden falls on the women, and since it is mostly men passing the laws–many out of touch with the sentiments of their constituencies–these draconian statutes have been allowed to take effect in many states.
This basically brings us back to a place where men are enacting laws that infringe upon a woman’s right to do as she chooses with her own body. Those who argue in favor will claim that the legislation protects the rights of the unborn fetus (a specious defense that I will look at in more detail in an upcoming post), but this pushes the balance too far against the woman and resurrects a chauvinistic system that we moved away from long ago. In addition to this, outdated and potentially sexist religious beliefs–which have no place in a secular legal system–also heavily influence these laws (which I will also look at in an upcoming post).
The current laws banning or heavily restricting abortion should be challenged as discriminatory against women (and possibly also on the religion factor) as the best means of getting them off the books. Federal action should also follow to protect the reproductive rights of women and to push back against the chauvinistic legislation that has emerged in many states. And while protections for the fetus can be factored into the process as the nation reassesses its stance on abortion, the draconian and dangerous laws currently in place are insufficient in this regard and should not be allowed to remain in place. The path to overturning this legislation seems rather clear, and the general sentiment across the country favors a return to a system closer to what existed under Roe v. Wade. Now is the time to take the proper actions that will assure these laws are overturned and to bring us back to a more equitable and humane system.
You can see the current abortion laws state by state at TheFullerProject.org.