Anti-Abortion Bill (Indiana, US)

Amidst all the rage and talks taking rounds on the subject of Anti-Abortion Bill to be made effective from 15th September 2022, I personally feel has left me unconvinced on some very crucial points. There is lot unattended to in black and white and much unexplained in between the lines.

Currently in the state of Indiana, the abortion is legal up to 22 weeks. The Indiana senate approved the near-total ban on abortion from 15th September 2022, abortion becomes illegal with limited exceptions:

*) In cases of rape and incest. The exceptions for rape and incest are limited to 10 weeks post-  fertilization, meaning victims could not get an abortion in Indiana after that.

*)To prevent any serious health risk of the pregnant woman or to save the pregnant woman’s life.

*)The fetus is diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly.

There are series of questions running across in my head with what ifs, I can think of many circumstances that do not get along with the mandate about to be laid out for the future. To begin with:

What if the pregnancy is unplanned, the parent/parents are not in prepared to make themselves available to take the responsibility physically, emotionally or/and financially towards the child at that point of time?
Here I can think of multiple valid reasons (each to one’s own) – their demanding jobs, odd job hours, their own health issues – physical, mental, emotional. Financially not being secure themselves is one strong reason a lot of women and men do not want to take the pregnancy forward or as simple as one might not be ready to take the responsibility because of being too young or strong career orientation or emotionally not ready to indulge in parenthood (sometimes without the partner). Shouldn’t that be one’s choice? Especially when it comes to being a mother, I have often heard women say it was their calling when the time was right. Now imagine someone else deciding your calling and your time for you, wouldn’t that be annoying and frustrating to know you have been stripped of your right to freedom.

What if woman is not aware that she has conceived?
It takes almost one month for a woman to get her next menstrual cycle and if she misses then she has a reason to suspect of pregnancy and even if she detects her pregnancy after 10 days (you might get a positive from an at-home test as early as 10 days after conception and for a more accurate result, wait until after you’ve missed your period to take a test) it makes no difference because the upcoming anti-abortion law does permit to terminate the pregnancy right from the day of conception. Imagine the kind of blow it would be to a woman’s otherwise usual life. I fail to understand how can the theory be so offset from the practical in this aspect of being.

What if the fetal growth is abnormal but not fatal?
Now this is subject to discussion at length because there are various angles to be considered in making a decision to continue with such pregnancy and the most important of them all is post-natal care and upbringing of a disabled child. Between weeks 11 and 13 of pregnancy are used to look for certain birth defects related to the baby’s heart or chromosomal disorders, such as Down syndrome and again there can be no right or wrong or anyone else’s right other than the woman carrying the child, to make a decision to keep or not to keep the keep pregnancy, it alone and alone shouldn’t it be her sole decision to evaluate her options (with or without partner) because the matter follows with more complexities with time. But again, she will not be able to terminate the pregnancy if she wants to because it will be too late already. The care, the education (however children with disabilities are entitled to receive special education services, at no cost to the family, through the public school system beginning on the day of the child’s 3rd birthday and ending at the age of 22), their employability, their medical needs, the whole challenge of making them part of the mainstream may not be the effort the parent/parents are ready to put in because of their own reasons. For example, a mother with congenital disease gets to know the same health condition has been passed on to the fetus, even though she knows her life has been extremely difficult if not fatal to live with it but again has no choice to make a decision suitable as she thinks there.

What if the pregnancy is the result of failure in contraceptive measures?
As per the 2020 data from a reputed research organization-The Guttmacher Institute, method as trivial as male condoms and internal (female) condoms which are considered “coitally dependent” methods, because they are generally employed near the time of sexual intercourse. The male condom has a typical-use failure rate of 13%, and a perfect-use failure rate of 2%. Internal condoms have a typical-use failure rate of 21% and a perfect-use failure rate of 5%. Now in this case who would take the responsibility and how long the process would take to prove the claim on the condom manufacturing company in discussion here. Even if the claim is proved and compensation is made, the time to take a call to whether keep or terminate the pregnancy would be long gone. The women or parent/parents’ life cannot be reinstated.

What if the pregnancy is result of marital rape?
This is a tricky situation because proving rape by a spouse can often be more difficult, because it can be more difficult to prove that the victim did not give her consent. While this can be fairly straightforward to prove in the case of stranger rape, married couples usually have consensual sex. Sometimes it may take time to prove the crime here, what if the crime is acknowledged and proved but it’s already too late to abort because the procedure took longer. Has there been made any special provision or fast track courts for such cases?

Is sex only for procreation?
In the light of upcoming anti-abortion bill, I am bound to think if sex is only to procreate life, because as far as I know and have experienced even in between married couples it is not the only reason to physically get involved. Sex is for love, passion, physical urge and is for sure the most obvious and organic way to get pregnant but can or cannot be for more than one of the mentioned reasons. In these moments if woman gets pregnant accidently and is not prepared to continue it but also does not have the right to terminate it, can be scary. To be frank here the whole idea appears primitive to me where women’s only duty was to get pregnant above everything else, deprived of her rights, freedom and choices. The idea stands opposite to the idea of women’s emancipation for which as a society we still are fighting.

And if people suggest to go to some other state to get just a medical procedure done where it’s legal, I would like to ask them the whole travel, stay, discomfort and financial liabilities, who’s going to bear it? Indiana whose neighboring states except Illinois (happens to more than 3 hours) share more or less same fate, how far must one will have to travel, sounds like lot of hassle.

Many US employers have shown their resentment towards the bill, Microsoft Corp, Yelp Inc, Citigroup, Levi Strauss & Co, Amazon.com Inc, and, many more have already pledged to cover costs for American employees who need to travel out of state for an abortion. These are handful corporations, I can imagine, this will be <1% of US adult population. Aren’t we passing the message that a section of population will have elevated options and privilege to such basic individual right?

One of the largest employers in Indiana, Eli Lilly and Company said in the light of new bill it will be hard to retain and attract thousands of people who are important drivers of the state’s economy and it will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside the home state. It will not be too far in future that other employers would follow the same footstep and if the employment opportunities will limit, socio-economic dynamics will hugely be impacted.

These are completely my understanding of this upcoming much discussed Anti-Abortion Bill, it’s thought provoking because as a Hoosier (Indiana resident) if I am bound to perform my duties, I am also entitled to know my rights and choices.

Or, am I not?