Grace Bennett
Oxbridge Academy
Governor Ron Desantis’s enactment of a restrictive six-week abortion law in Florida represents a profoundly misguided and unjust intrusion on women’s rights as well as healthcare decisions.
In an associated press article, Kamala Harris said, “As of this morning, 4 million women in this state woke up with fewer reproductive freedoms than they had last night.”
On the morning of May First, 2024, women in Flordia woke up to a soul-crushing reality. The enacted bill, making abortion illegal after six weeks, stripped women of their ability to decide about their pregnancies before they were even aware of them.
Statistics have shown that most women are unaware of their pregnancy before or at six weeks, making termination nearly impossible. According to Ansirh, one in three people discover pregnancy at six weeks or later, and about one in five discover pregnancy past seven weeks. Almost two in three people aged 15-19 discover pregnancy at six weeks or later.
In Florida, it seems as if all odds are against women in this category; it is not just a matter of the violation of women’s rights; it is also a diminishment of healthcare opportunities for pregnant women. In an associated press article, Roberts said, “We’re coming in between them and their doctors and preventing them from getting care until it’s saving their lives, sometimes at the expense of their fertility.”
“As a girl growing up in a fast-paced environment, I am worried about sharing special moments with a significant other because I am no longer able to choose what happens with my body if I end up pregnant.” Said a high school student in Florida.
Even though I haven’t experienced this tragedy, I am a 15-year-old girl living in Florida; my peers and I can get pregnant or be victims of sexual assault. It is safe to say we now live in fear; it has ruined intimate moments for us and made us feel anger toward our bodies and resentment towards those around us. Banning abortion is not just a political argument; it is an emotional battle that affects all women around the country in all ways, whether that be emotional, physical, or anything in between.
“The taking of a life is murder, and it is illegal.”According to Danny McCormick,
The abortion ban runs deeper than just a political stance, more than a “preference;” it is a life-altering and heartbreaking reality only women are left to face. Men can and have been imposing this decision on women across the country now more than ever; they determine the fate of our bodies.
Why is a 45-year-old man, oblivious of female reproductive systems and women’s personal lives, able to dictate what happens to me and others like me, disregarding our age, ability, and feelings about pregnancy?
Knowing I have minimal standing in the fight for women’s rights, I write this in hopes of educating anyone I can about the decisions that the wrong people are making; men should not be the dictator of any woman’s body. Growing up in this day, especially in the South, is frightening; it affects more than just the impregnated women; it affects doctors, young girls being scared to have intimate moments, healthcare providers, and more. Hopefully, the Nov. ballot will dissolve the six-week ban, and if it does, the fight is still not over for women in the South.
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