This week on campus the Gustavus Womyn’s Awareness Center painted the rock for Reproductive Justice Week.
Reproductive justice is defined as “complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, and economic well-being of women and girls, based on the full achievement and protection of women’s human rights.”
This has been a hot topic, especially with the upcoming presidential election.
Where one of the candidates, Hillary Clinton, made it clear how she feels about reproductive justice with this quote from her website “Hillary will fight back against Republican attempts to restrict access to quality, affordable reproductive health care. She will defend access to affordable contraception, preventive care, and safe and legal abortion—not just in principle, but in practice.”
This contradicts other candidate, Donald Trump, who supports outlawing abortion but allowing limited exceptions for incest, rape, and when the life of the mother is endangered.
As a person with pro-life beliefs, I do not believe in abortion, and I could not fathom the thought of the murder of an unborn child.
Approximately 50 percent of abortions are done on fetuses with female genetilia.
I cannot understand how groups of people who “claim” to care about women’s rights find it fine to deliberately kill unborn women.
These fetuses had no chance at life, and will never experience the “equality” that those same women claim they want for themselves.
It seems today that reproductive justice is a means of getting away with murder.
Many women claim that this term is about gaining equality and our natural born rights.
But that is just it, we are born with that right.
You just took that right away the second you took away that child.
In 1989, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which includes, “No child shall be subjected to torture, cruel treatment, unlawful arrest, or deprivation of liberty.”
With the belief that life begins at conception, the unborn child has already suffered cruel treatment with an abortion.
There was a change of reproductive rights during the sexual revolution in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
In 1965, the Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that it was unconstitutional for the government to prohibit married couples from using birth control.
Since then birth control has readily been available to both men and women.
Today, the prices of birth control vary from $0-$50 a month depending on your method.
Back to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her ideals on “affordable” contraceptives, what is affordable?
If you spend $50 every month on contraceptives such as condoms or spermicides it adds up to approximately $600 over the course of the semester.
This $600 seems very low when you compare it to the average $12,000 that is spent during the first year of life for a child.
These forms of birth control do not require prescriptions and can be found very easily.
I can imagine many people thinking, “Well why not have an abortion and save that $12,000?” Abortions are a personal choice, and I believe that if you are passionate about something your mind will not be swayed.
However abortions can have lifelong complications and you need to be aware of what you are setting yourself up for.
As a person with pro-life beliefs, I do not believe in abortion, and I could not fathom the thought of the murder of an unborn child.
In 1973, abortion was legalized in the court case Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an individual state does not hold the power to regulate the procedure in the first trimester beyond certain requirements.
One of the requirements is that a licensed physician must perform the procedure in a medically safe facility.
The abortion laws in Minnesota are not as restrictive as other states, but they do require mandatory counseling, and knowledge about the medical risks and then followed by a 24-hour waiting period.
The mandatory counseling session also requires the patient to learn about whether the fetus will experience pain. This is meant to discourage women from seeking abortions.
Today, there are millions of Americans that consider themselves feminists as well as those who define themselves as supporters of reproductive justice.
Please keep in mind that these are personal opinions, and what I hope for you to take away from this article is knowledge about abortions.
This is a very controversial topic, and there may never be a peaceful resolution.
But please keep in mind that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and respect that, even if it differs from your own.