Why Mississippi's new abortion law is bad for women and women's rights
The Issue: Mississippi's controversial health care law has made it the only state without an abortion clinic
Mississippi has the distinction of being last among all states in just about every social and economic metric. This is due, in no small part, to the generally backward thinking of the state’s elected officials. The controversy over a law passed by the state legislature setting guidelines nearly impossible for abortion clinics to actually follow, with the hopes of an essential de facto moratorium on abortions in the state, is just another iteration of the Old South attempting to enforce its will upon a modern nation. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has admitted that with the law, he intends to end abortion in the state. Mississippi’s actions in this case should be alarming for two main reasons.
First is from the women’s rights perspective. Women have the right to privacy and the right to do with their bodies as they feel fit. This includes abortions. Abortions are generally not the ideal solution to the challenge of prospective parenthood, but they should be an available option. Mississippi is attempting to take abortion off the table completely, which is just unacceptable, especially for a state that ranks first in the nation in teen pregnancies.
However, the more problematic issue is the general trend among mostly conservative leaders in Southern states to repudiate federal policies. Roe v. Wade made abortion a right to women, and the laws passed in Mississippi are thinly veiled attempts to deny that right. This is reminiscent of the fight against integration in the mid-20th century, and attempts at secession prior to that. If the Supreme Court decides in March that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, you should expect to see the same kinds of tactics used. The Mississippi legislature feels it knows what a woman should be able to do with her body more than the federal government does, and even more than the woman herself. This frankly petulant patronizing is less about a right to life and more about rigid control and forcing an archaic moral code upon society.
Mississippi should not be allowed to force the state’s only existing abortion clinic out of existence. A woman has the right to choose, and the Supreme Court has recognized this right. A state should not simply be able to, through political maneuvering, effectively invalidate that right. If allowed to stand, it sets a very dangerous precedent for similar issues in the future.
