Deconstructing Right Wing Myths: The 20-Week Abortion Ban

It is time for America to join the ranks of most other developed nations around the world and restrict abortion at least at the point at which science tells us that unborn babies are capable of feeling pain.

–Mitch McConnell, March 2014roe36b 003

Several prominent senators seeking re-election believe that a 20-week abortion ban is a way to move the US into the present and align itself with the abortion policies of other “developed nations.” Interestingly, those Republicans choose to focus on the gestational limit of other countries without examining their other policies that make abortion far more accessible than in the United States. With free, publicly funded abortions in publicly-funded hospitals in more than a few countries across Europe, abortion is far less restricted than in Texas with its eight abortion clinics for a state of nearly 30 million people. In France, a country of 66 million, women can receive a free abortion at any of its public hospitals.

This is not the most egregious misinterpretation of facts that an anti-choice senator has spoken recently. Last year Lindsey Graham made the unsupported claim that with abortion restrictions, “good things will happen. Babies will be born that wouldn’t have made it otherwise, and only God knows who they will grow up to be.” Graham makes this claim despite the personal experiences and studies that have shown time and time again that restrictions on abortion are dangerous to women.

The right wing of the Senate has stepped up its game when it comes to abortion restrictions. It is important for all voters, not just feminist voters, to question everything that a senator says to win an election. Scary, unsupported claims about abortion are the easiest way for the right wing to push centrist voters into their wing. In the weeks before the coming election, we must all think critically and carefully about who exactly has the ability to represent women and their allies in the Senate.

5 responses to “Deconstructing Right Wing Myths: The 20-Week Abortion Ban

  1. As a retiree in her 70s, I remember all too well discussions at the hospital where I was a volunteer some 50+ years ago. There was a back-alley abortion provider in a nearby town whose work was well known to all emergency rooms within a 100 mile radius. If abortion becomes too difficult to access now, we’ll return to those pre-Roe v Wade days, to the detriment of just about everyone. Many women died in those days, and many more were permanently injured. The intentions may have been good, but the reality wasn’t.

  2. If you are pre-born the republicans LOVE you.
    ONCE you are born , however,
    THEN you metamorphosis into a WELFARE BRAT.
    THESE people live on PROPAGANDA.
    THEY ARE ALL OLD MEN who have ALWAYS been disconected from the needs of EVEN their OWN wives.
    HOW can they possibly understand women.
    THEY DO NOT EVEN READ medical literature.
    THEY are CLUELESS

  3. I have always been a SUPPORTER of a women’s right to choose. But there is no reason to wait 20 weeks to make that decision. That really is disgusting to me. Do you know what a 20 week old fetus can do/looks like? Women, we need to set some limits, otherwise more and more women are going to stop supporting pro-choice. I am a SUPPORTER of limits, but definitely a SUPPORTER of ACCESS to abortion in 1st term as well. Imo after 12-15 weeks is already too long.

  4. Only 1% of abortions occur after 20 weeks. This article from Slate sums up all the reasons why a woman would have an abortion that “late”.

    The takeaway from that article is this piece: “Why do some women wait so long? The answer is that comprehensive fetal testing, such as anatomical sonograms and ultrasounds of the heart, are typically performed just before 20 weeks of gestation. Such scans are critical for uncovering major birth defects, such as anencephaly (severe brain malformations), major heart defects, missing organs and limbs, and other severe birth defects. Fetal development is a complex process that often goes awry.”

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