The Economist April 13th 2019
Abortion controls
In a heartbeat
WASHINGTON, DC
A new push to overturn Roe v Wade
Though conservatives are by and large taking a kicking in the culture wars, they continue to hold ground on one front: abortion. Americans increasingly accept the right of gays to adopt children and marry. But they have not moved in a similar direction on women's right to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is as controversial as it was 46 years ago when the Supreme Court ruled it a constitutional right in Roe v Wade. Hence the success of "Unplanned", a low-grade, blood-spattered film about an abortion nurse-turned pro-lifer that has become a box-office hit.
More significant fresh evidence of Americans' antipathy to abortion comes in the form of legislation. In the first three months of 2019,12 states introduced bills that ban abortion from the moment a fetal heartbeat is detectable. That happens around the sixth week of pregnancy, two weeks after a missed menstrual period, when many women do not yet know they are pregnant. In other words, the bills come close to being total abortion bans.
Around half have made it through at least one legislative chamber. In some states they have been signed into law. In March a "heartbeat" bill was signed by Mississippi's Republican governor. Georgia's governor, also a Republican, is expected to approve a similar bill there—sparking threats of a Hollywood boycott of a state that is a hub for film and tv production.
The rush of state-level heartbeat bills represents a shift in strategy by some anti-abortionists. Since 1973, pro-lifers have for the most part focused on chipping away at Roe by introducing burdensome regulations that make it harder to obtain an abortion. These range from imposing waiting periods between a consultation at a clinic and an abortion (which can be difficult for women in states with few clinics) to dictating the width of clinic corridors. This approach has been successful. The Gutt-macher Institute, a pro-choice research group, says 401 abortion restrictions were introduced between 2011 and 2017. Eight states have only one abortion clinic…..
THE ARTICLE GOES ON WITH PROS AND CONS OF WHAT MAY YET HAPPEN WITH ABORTION IN THE USA.
BUT IT IS WONDERFUL THAT GOOD PROGRESS IS BEING MADE TO CURB ABORTION ON DEMAND.
THE BIBLE MAKES IT VERY CLEAR HUMAN LIFE BEGINS AT CONCEPTION AND WILLFUL PLANNED ABORTION IS MURDER!
WHILE OTHER GREAT SINS IN THE USA ARE MOVING FORWARD [LEGAL SAME SEX MARRIAGE, AND TRANSGENDER STUFF] IT IS REFRESHING TO SEE ABORTION ON DEMAND IS REGRESSING.
Keith Hunt
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