Texas has enacted a new law to attack women’s rights. Women who abort or miscarry a pregnancy will be required to pay for funeral services for the fetus.
Alexa Ura of the Texas Tribune said:
“Despite intense outcry from the medical community and reproductive rights advocates, the state will prohibit hospitals, abortion clinics and other health care facilities from disposing of fetal remains in sanitary landfills, instead allowing only cremation or burial of all remains — regardless of the period of gestation.”
This even applies if the embryo is too small to be seen. The doctor will still have to treat it as a dead person and hold a funeral for it.
David Brown, a staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights said that this law will:
“… Dissuade women who need medical care from seeking medical treatment.”
Many women are turning to DIY abortion methods. There is a drug called misoprostol that can induce a miscarriage. It is relatively safe, but there is the possibility of infection and an incomplete miscarriage. Women are going to Mexico or turning to the black market to buy this drug.
The pills can be helpful when used correctly. One woman, who asked to be identified by her initials H.D., said:
“The reason that I would choose the pill versus the surgical procedure is the comfort of your home without you having to deal with coming to the office and then being hounded outside by protesters or what have you. And a lot of times you don’t want too many people knowing what’s going on. With the pill, I feel like it’s more to yourself.”
Hey, Texas. You are not going to stop abortions, and a woman can’t help a miscarriage.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence tried to enact a similar law as Governor of Indiana. His bill required women to pay for cremation or burial for their aborted fetuses. These laws are an assault on women’s rights and a total waste of time and money.
Featured image by Fred Jala via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
