Potential issues concerning this bill include:
- Determining what is an intentional abortion or miscarriage depending on circumstances.
- Determining guidelines for unintentional abortions due to lack of knowledge of pregnancy.
- Who exactly determines guidelines for an intentional abortion or miscarriage.
- Abortions may become less available and more expensive, potentially allowing more abortion bills to get passed through more in the pro-life favor.
- Determining whether the consequences of committing a non-medical abortion will influence women decision to do it.
- The potential health risk for women due to not seeking proper medical attention in fear of being charged with a felony.
- Determining differentiation between medical and non-medical abortion because of same end result but different consequences.
- Stigma and life consequences that women are left with following penalty.
As future nurses, we agree that it is wrong to try and end a pregnancy by harmful means, like drug, alcohol, or physical abuse. However, we feel that the government does not have the right or reason to be involved in deciding the means of which a woman chooses to terminate her pregnancy. If a woman is determined to terminate her pregnancy she will find the means of doing so, whether its medically or by harmful means. The problem we find with this bill is how to determine whether an abortion or miscarriage was intentional.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting yet complicated bill. The issue of abortion is and will always be an emotional, moral, and political conflict. However, Diane makes a good point about a woman's intention to end a pregnancy either medically or personally. Murder is considered if the woman physically induces her body to abort yet not when carried out by medical means? This seems a bit controversial. Determining the nature of the abortion, spontaneous or intentional, would be difficult in many situations. This public health issue should focus more on prevention programs rather than criminalizing women with unintended pregnancies. Greater access of abortion pills and procedures might influence unprotected sex as a woman feels that she has "means to take care of it" if she were to become pregnant. However, decreasing this availability might increase the likelihood of a woman's personal attempt to induce an abortion. I'm not sure that putting a woman in jail is the solution either. Again, a greater focus on prevention strategies may have greater affect in reduces unintended pregnancies.
ReplyDeleteWe too thought it would be difficult to determine whether or not an abortion was done by harmful means or medically. Some women do simply miscarry unintentionally (like slipping and falling down) so with this bill it would be difficult to prove how the abortion was carried out. We agree that a woman's body is her own and that the government should not incriminate her for making the choice to have an abortion. However we do feel that if abortion pills were made available so easily then it would allow for more abortions to take place. So that may not be the best solution. Prevention programs are always a good means to trying to solve a problem however many people don't take advantage of these programs and/or aren't properly educated on how he programs work. As future nurses education will be a big tool of helping patients and even with the government who aren't really active in the lives of paients we can be the advocates for the patients and hopefully prevent harm induced abortions from occurring, for the sake of the child and the mother.
ReplyDeleteAs nursing students, we are also in opposition to this bill. Abortion is a very important and interesting topic and this bill has brought up a lot of good points. However, it would be very difficult to determine the cause of miscarriage and prosecute individuals suspected of purposeful pregnancy termination. We support your opinion that determining what is an intentional abortion or miscarriage would be almost impossible. If a woman is not aware that she is pregnant, she could potentially engage in dangerous situations that would cause a miscarriage. It is not fair to prosecute a woman for miscarriage if she is not aware that she is pregnant. There are potential health risk for women due to not seeking proper medical attention in fear of being charged with a felony. I think this problem alone is cause for the bill not to be passed.
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