A day before, Donald Trump had an astonishing victory in the US presidential polls, winning all key battle ground states despite all predictions. Claiming to have groped women openly, this is however one of the many scandals that have mired Trump’s presidential campaign. Asides from misogyny, reckless gun control, foreign affairs, immigration policies, he also threatens women’s rights to legal and safe abortion pills and services.
The new president has also claimed that women who have had pregnancy terminations should be punished legally. In addition to this, his backward gender equality, healthcare and LGBT policies have threatened the progress made by the country over the last fifty years.
The change in abortion outlook
Trump wasn’t opposed to abortion before standing for elections, commenting on how he wouldn’t ban late pregnancy cancellations if nominated. He had previously also held a dinner party in honor of the previous president of an influential pregnancy termination association. It was not until in 2015 when he announced to run for president when he claimed to ban abortive procedures.
During his candidacy, he now claims to be pro life, only with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and if the women’s life is in danger. Additionally, he plans to defund government run termination centers and claims to strength restrictive laws that threaten/prevent financially backward women from affording abortion pills cost or services. He and his running mate Mike Pence have also claimed to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v/s Wade automatically.
Why these claims are more likely to eviscerate abortion rights
Even if the conservative politician lacks any political experience, his running mate is one of the most astringent anti-choice politicians in the country. His political career up till now has horrifically single minded devotion to completely suppress and remove women’s reproductive choice and bodily autonomy.
He is the first politician to ever introduce a bill that would defund all major state-pregnancy termination providing associations. Bizarrely, enough he had also signed into a law that would require abortion providers to arrange funerals for fetuses and co-sponsored a legislation that would provide full constitutional rights to every fertilized egg.
Reproductive rights activist rightly fear that the Republican Party victory would not only ban late term procedures but also prevent women who buy abortion pills to have early pregnancy termination. They now fear that this victory would be a devastating blow to the decades of progress in gender equality movement.
More harm to POCs
Even if the ruling party’s extreme anti-abortion agenda threatens women all across the country, it is the women of minority and poor financial background that will suffer the most. Access to abortion is already difficult for these women. However, there are number of republican supported bills have been recently introduced that will place substantial financial and logistical burden on women seeking pregnancy termination. Such laws result in shutting down of many abortion clinics, making terminations a luxury choice only for the few that can afford.
The conservative republican means anti-choice law maker will now have the authority to attack pro-choice legislation. All the while history has shown us that banning abortion doesn’t affect the number of procedures but only pushes women to seek unsafe services.