Aborting Ignorance

A topic that is often talked about and almost always controversial is the topic of abortion. Some argue that having an abortion is inhumane and there are others who argue that it is a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy if she chooses to do so. Whether right or wrong, fact remains that it is legal for a woman to get an abortion, although it has to be done before a certain time in the fetal development.

Currently in Texas, abortions are banned after 28 weeks of gestation. HB 2364 however, proposed by Jodie Laubenberg, R-Parker, would ban all abortions after a mere 20 weeks. Her argument is that at this stage in the pregnancy, the fetus can actually feel pain. Problem is, there is no concrete evidence supporting this claim. In fact, evidence suggests that nerves aren’t developed until well into the third trimester, which would then lead to the unborn child being able to register pain.

Another valid argument against this bill is that serious fetal abnormalities cannot be detected before 20 weeks. When these rare medical conditions occur, the decision is left on what is best for the parents and more important, what they agree is best for the baby. HB 2364 would eliminate this decision altogether, because 20 weeks is usually too early to tell, which some would deem as unconstitutional.

In 2010, there were a total of 77,592 abortions performed in Texas. Out of that large number, only 420 of the abortions were performed after 20 weeks and the majority of them were due to serious medical conditions. This is with our current law of having the abortions done before 28 weeks which goes to show that most women carry out abortions in the earlier stages of their pregnancy without this bill even being passed. So, if it ain’t broke, why fix it?  

Critique

I actually wrote about the same topic as Aprill in my blog because I feel that this is an important issue. Sex education has proven to be beneficial overtime and SB 521, if approved, will be a major setback. I agree with Aprill on the fact that this seems to be a deliberate attack on organizations such as Planned Parenthood because some of the clinics provide abortions. She brings up a good point in that they should incorporate Sex Education into the health class curriculum. When I was in seventh grade, I lived in Hawaii and we took probably two weeks in our health class to go over sex education, not just watching one video. If that’s what they do here, then we definitely need to refine the sex education course. Overall, Aprill brings up some good points. It may need a little fine tuning to correct spelling and grammatical errors but other than that she makes a valid argument!

Link to Aprill's blog post 

Unplanned Parenthood

The requirement that students have to take a sex education course while in school has made some positive changes and we have seen a decrease in teen pregnancies in the last twenty years. While the numbers are still substantially high, we can keep making some improvements to these programs and keep progressing.  Senate Bill 521, filed by Republican state Senator Ken Paxton of McKinney, is not taking a step in the right direction. This bill prohibits school districts from using sex education materials that are provided by any organization that are affiliated with abortion providers, most notably targeting Planned Parenthood.

Currently, parents have the option to review the materials used in these courses and also have the option to withdraw their child from participating in sex education if they so choose to. With this proposed bill, parents would have to sign a consent form allowing their child to take part in this informative course which means more paperwork and also may lead to fewer students attending the course. Whether students have sex education or not, most likely a lot of teens are going to engage in this physical activity due to hormones or whatever they blame it on. This is why it is important to not only teach them about abstinence, but also educate them on different types of contraceptives and where to attain these materials. Also, we teach them about the dreaded sexually transmitted diseases and why we don’t want them. Sex education in school also provides the parent an alternative to teaching their child about sex because most parents and teens don’t want to have that incredibly awkward conversation.

Hopefully in the next twenty years we will see a continual decline in pregnancies amongst teens with the help of programs like sex education and Planned Parenthood. It is clear that these programs do not encourage sex, but give teens education and options on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Senate Bill 521 is not going to help in the gradual decline of teen pregnancies, only hurt it.