A new law has been passed in Arkansas, USA. The law states that women need to get permission from the man who made them pregnant before they can have an abortion. For girls who are under 18-year-old, the parents get to decide whether their daughter can have an abortion.
In cases of rape, if a woman wants to terminate her pregnancy - she’d have to ask her rapist, attacker or abusive partner for permission.
The bill, was signed into law in March this year and comes into force at the end of July.
This is a truly regressive law that has been passed in a progressive country such as the United States. Pro-choice campaigners are fighting the law because it is making access to an abortion even more difficult than it already is.
Women across the US are struggling to get basic healthcare. They cannot afford to lose access to abortions.
It is not even about healthcare - but how can a few men sitting in a room, even decide what a woman should be doing with her body? How is it any of their business? Sadly, that is how the world works.
A legal challenge against the bill will be heard on Thursday, 13th July, 2017. Let us hope that the law will be pulled back. Arkansas has a population of about three million people, and is waiting for the lawsuit against the bill passed by the civil and reproductive rights organisation. Public funding for abortions is only available if the mother's life is in danger, or in cases of rape. The Affordable Care Act only covers abortions under some special circumstances in some cases.
President Donald Trump has pulled all funding for international organisations that provide abortions or even counsel women about abortions.
The US sets examples for a lot of other countries and we, as a society, cannot afford to take one step forward and two steps back when it comes to women’s reproductive rights.
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Pic credits: The Cambridge Student
Also read: #Globalgagrule: Trump Reinstates Anti-Abortion Policy
Read more articles by Nikhita Sanotra
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