There has been a devastating blow to women's health and reproductive rights in the United States. Alabama has passed one of the strictest anti-abortion laws. The law basically outlaws all abortion except under the circumstance that the mother's life is in danger. The cases that involve rape and incest do not get an exemption. The few abortion clinics in Alabama have vowed to remain open and serving women's health needs despite the law. More states are emboldened to produce more laws that are clearly unconstitutional. So far, there may be a conservative campaign to overturn Roe V. Wade. If this happens women's health will be in peril. Women may seek to go get abortions from people less qualified in other states or possibly other countries. The level of inadequate healthcare in southern states is a cause for alarm, with more women dying when giving birth in previous decades. This increase may double without the full protection of reproductive rights. The ant-abortion movement has been driven by social conservatives, religious fundamentalists, and men who want to reverse the gains of the feminist movement. The movement is not about protecting life, rather restricting the control women have over their bodies. The next target will be the prohibition of contraception,if such anti-abortion laws are enacted nationwide. The irony is that the governor of Alabama Kay Ivey signed the bill into law in the state. It is a lugubrious reminder that many times women can be agents in their own oppression. Alabama's anti-abortion law will certainly be challenged in the Supreme Court. However, the number of conservative judges could hold the fate of women's health in the balance.
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