The topic of abortion has been a broad national debate, with the legality of the process becoming a hotly contested issue. Being a health matter, abortion has been defined as the premature termination of pregnancy before the attainment of the known date of birth. Abortion can be a deliberate action or a process that is meant to save the life of the pregnant mother if a health professional sees it as wise to terminate the pregnancy. With this in mind, it is evident that everyday women will make choices with their bodies, significantly affecting their health (Beckman, 2017). For some women, the reality that one is bound to be a mother is a fantastic experience, but to some others, this can be indeed difficult. They ought to be able to choose what they want when assuming the responsibility of becoming a mother. This means that abortion because it is an event that involves life, and there are laws that have been drafted and implemented over the years to check on how the process is supposed to be governed. For this paper, abortion laws will be discussed with a contrast and comparison of the laws with the states of Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida under focus. They share notable similarities and differences in their abortion laws, and here now, they bring the focus of abortion laws.
Making decisions that affect life can have dire consequences because everyone has a different opinion of what they regard as right or wrong. The abortion laws were drafted differently by the states at first, and this now brings the salient differences in the three states. Pregnancy termination after six weeks is no longer permitted in the state of Georgia (Davis, 2012). In Florida, there is an abortion law that states that the process of abortion can be done before the end of 15 weeks and six days. This means that the standard length of pregnancy dictates when abortion can be done. Guidelines exist that allow the process of abortion to go on in case the pregnancy has gone beyond a specific time frame (Clarke & Muhlrad, 2021). In Mississippi, abortion is not allowed, and at the same time, there still exists some similar exemptions in the states of Georgia and Florida.
In some states like Mississippi, the abortion ban is in effect right from the judgment ruling that was made by General Lyn Fitch, who ratified the law in July 2022.In Mississippi, there are legal implications for any woman guilty of having undergone an abortion. However, there can be situations where this law has some allocations. One realizes that the process of getting pregnant can occur through consensual sex. Still, the law makers understood that in some instances, women can get raped which can lead to unwanted pregnancy. This termination of such a pregnancy is not allowed in Mississippi, making it a debate for further discussion (Beckman, 2017). Other instances, like incest, can also necessitate this pregnancy termination. However, this cannot happen without a proper process because some people can make up their stories to undergo an abortion. Under such extreme cases, the Mississippi abortion laws have clearly stated that the cases that necessitate abortion should have been filed with the relevant abortion authorities.
Looking at Georgia’s law on abortion, the contrasting difference here comes with the way the ban is structured. A normal pregnancy typically takes about 36 to 37 weeks before maturity. Georgia abortion laws regard a fetus that has attained six weeks of age as a human being and is free to live until birth. The total ban on abortion here, thus, is before the elapse of 6 weeks after pregnancy. It means that the abortion policies in Georgia are relaxed, and no total ban like witnessed in Mississippi, which is regarded as one of the most restrictive states in the way it has structured its abortion laws. Those intending to undergo abortion in Georgia have to be exposed to counseling sessions, which means it is not a process that the people affected can just decide on individually (Clarke & Muhlrad, 2021). If any minor here in Georgia has to undergo this process of abortion, the notification has to be served to her parents. All these preventive measures are followed because conducting an abortion is not an easy step and can present some life-threatening challenges.
In the case of Florida, there are also upcoming differences that present the nature of how abortion is supposed to be done. Here, the state laws are categorical that after 15 weeks, no abortion can be performed. The legal allocation means that it contrasts with Mississippi because the affected female has the right to undergo the process. In Florida, the lobby groups have, however, been presenting their petitions for this ban because an instance can arise whereby a woman is in a life-threatening state and the 15 weeks have elapsed, making it hard to procure the abortion(Beckman, 2017).
The similarity that exists in abortion laws in the three states is that, at some point in time, there is a ban on the abortion process. These three states are firm in stating that abortion is banned despite the timings being different and Mississippi having the total abortion ban. The point the laws here in the three states are affirming is that respect for the life of the unborn child is paramount, and there are legal consequences for failure to observe that(Davis, 2017). It shows that, around July 2022, these three states strengthened their abortion laws. My stand on this abortion debate is that it should only be done by a medical professional and permitted only under certain circumstances like incest, rape, and if the medical professionals foresee that the continuation of the pregnancy puts the life of the pregnant mother in danger.
References
Beckman, L. J. (2017). Abortion in the United States: The continuing controversy. Feminism & Psychology, 27(1), 101-113.
Clarke, D., & Mühlrad, H. (2021). Abortion laws and women’s health. Journal of Health Economics, 76, 102413.
Davis, M. F. (2022). The state of abortion rights in the US. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 159(1), 324-329.
write