The ultimate goal of groups pushing 20-week bans is to ban abortion completely. 12 states already ban abortion after 20 weeks.
This summer, the House of Representatives passed a 20-week abortion ban, which initially had no exceptions for rape or incest.
So, why are abortion bans after 20 weeks bad for women?
1) 20-week bans unfairly discriminate against women who’ve had a pregnancy go wrong.
Some women with a much-wanted pregnancy choose abortion after a severe fetal anomaly is detected that often cannot be diagnosed before 20 weeks. In some cases, abortion care is necessary to save a woman's life.
When Dana went to her 29-week sonogram, she learned that there were grave complications with her pregnancy. The fetus suffered from multiple brain abnormalities and it was extremely uncertain whether the pregnancy would survive or not. Hear her story:
2) Many 20-week abortion bans, including the proposed ban in Albuquerque, have no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest.
While politicians who are against abortion try to garner support for these bans by claiming that "the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low," sadly, that's just not the case.
3) Less than 2% of abortion care occurs after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Even though nearly 99% of abortion care happens before 20 weeks, anti-choice politicians are working diligently to force women to carry pregnancies against their will, no matter the circumstances. 20-week bans are a gateway to banning abortion outright.
These attempts to restrict or ban the procedure create a dangerous pattern: safe care becomes harder to obtain, only a handful of doctors across the US offer later abortion care, and women may have to travel great distances to get a safe abortion. With each passing week, the cost of care increases and the window of access decreases at an alarming rate, so it's often a race against time for women in tragic circumstances who may desperately need abortion services.
4) Finally, 20-week bans violate Roe v. Wade and are blatantly unconstitutional.
The politicians passing these laws know that they're unconstitutional. They hope to force the Supreme Court to take up this issue in order to dismantle Roe v. Wade, even if it means spending thousands of tax-payer dollars to defend these anti-choice policies.
Women in Albuquerque deserve better than these extreme anti-choice policies that endanger their health and safety. We cannot let abortion opponents insert themselves into women’s most personal and private medical decisions.
Help us spread the word about this dangerous abortion ban in Albuquerque by sharing our graphic with your friends.
Share This Article
