Last month, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, meaning that abortion is no longer a legal right for women and US states can now decide for themselves whether or not abortion should be outlawed in their state.
Whether this decision is just, and my opinion on the long-term effects of such a decision, is something to be discussed in another article. If you would like me to write an article about the legality of abortion (in my opinion) please do let me know.
In response to the overturning of Roe v Wade, the US state of Texas sought out to ban abortion entirely, although this was blocked by Judge Christine Weems last month. The current legislation regarding abortion in Texas is that a woman cannot legally have an abortion after 6 weeks of pregnancy as this is when a foetal heartbeat can usually be detected, as laid out in Texas’s ‘heartbeat’ abortion law. This, then, surely means that the state of Texas believes that a foetus is a human being, right? Well, a recent occurrence may show that this is not always the case.
Earlier this month, a Texan woman was given a ticket for driving alone in a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane (a lane in which you can only drive if there are at least two people in the car). The woman, who was 34 weeks pregnant at the time, stated that there were in fact two people in the car, however the officer did not see things her way.
This, to me, wreaks of hypocrisy. How can you pass legislation not allowing people to terminate their pregnancy after 6 weeks on the basis that a foetus is a human life after such time, but then have a completely different set of rules when it comes to a case such as this? Although the officer said that the additional passenger must be outside her body for her to be able to drive in the HOV lane, yet the law does not state such a nuance. Rather, it states that there must be at least two people in a car for one to be able to drive in the HOV lane, and according to the law this woman and her unborn baby are technically two people.
This, perhaps, shows that people only tend to preach certain beliefs when it suits them, but then have a different opinion when it does not. Aside from this example, there are many examples of those who oppose abortion for the masses, but then make allowances when it comes to their personal lives. Take Scott Lloyd, who blocked a 17 year old rape victim from getting an abortion but pressuring his ex-girlfriend to have the procedure when he was younger. Another example is that of Tim Murphy, a pro-life Republican who demanded that his mistress have an abortion.
Now, there are a plethora of examples like these which are just a Google search away, and this blatant hypocrisy presents us with a big issue in society. Why is it ok for you, but not for me? Why should we listen to people who say one thing and then do the complete opposite? Why should we allow these types of people to be in government and make decisions which are supposed to better society, when they only seem to be thinking about themselves?
