Op-Ed: Rethinking
By: Kendra Wang
On September 1, 2021, a shocking piece of news hit the entire world: abortions after six weeks of pregnancy will be illegal in the state of Texas. Protests swept the nation as outrage swept social media: Instagram stories were filled with posts and reposts demanding reproductive justice. But the reality is, some rethinking needs to be done before we jump to conclusions.
Texas’s Heartbeat Act was passed on March 21. Feminists from America and abroad alike argued that the Heartbeat Act is, in essence, a complete ban on abortions. While I believe the Act is, in many ways, flawed, I would like to advocate for a more nuanced understanding of its impact.
According to the official Texas Government website, the bill dictates that abortion may not be legal after a heartbeat is detected. The act states that six weeks marks the time an embryo develops a heartbeat, and consequently, must be recognized as a human. But according to medical experts, embryos do not even possess hearts at six weeks. Instead, the “heartbeat” detected by ultrasound machines are electrical impulses produced by the machine itself. On the other hand, however, we must regard this six week marking with caution.
However, the Texas abortion law does not completely obliterate the possibility of abortion. Physicians are still allowed to decide whether the parent’s health condition makes abortion an absolutely necessary option. And according to subchapter 171.207, there will be “Limitations on Public Enforcement.” Namely, “the requirements of this subchapter shall be enforced exclusively through private civil enforcement actions.” In other words, enforcement of the abortion law actual legal legislation but rather case-by-case civil trials. Thus, while the six week marking may prove a critical flaw, the case-by-case nature of the Act’s enforcement does allow for more flexibility than we have acknowledged.
This is not to say that the bill is not flawed—while some women can detect their pregnancy a mere 3 to 4 weeks after conception, oftentimes people do not realize they are pregnant before six weeks have passed. The only problem is not giving people enough time to react before abortion is not a legal option anymore. And yet, this statement is not often shown in the news, but is covered, rather, by clear, distinct—but unfortunately un-nuanced— statements such as how Texas decided to “strip women of their rights.”
We decided, at some point, that our world is black and white, when in truth, it is really a mass of gray.
We are beginning a new school year in the middle of a pandemic. This is a time when social media is probably one of our only ways left to communicate with other people, and a time when information travels so incredibly fast that things can go viral in a matter of minutes. So let us begin this new year by considering whether what we say or read is the actual truth before we start making judgments.
By judgements, I mean slowing down to fact check what we read. For us to take a second to consider whether what is being said is the real and full truth. Make a judgment of whether that is true before clicking that repost button. Act while making sure that what you are supporting is what you truly believe and understand deeply.
How many of us really took the time to understand the Texas Heartbeat Act before we took to reposts on social media? How many of us took the time to consider the fact that when President Biden first decided to evacuate American troops from Afghanistan, much of the public were heads over heels in love with the decision, but, when things backfired, everybody blamed Mr. President for his “rash” decisions? How many of us, no matter what we say, actually take the time to fact check what we read, what we say, and what we repost on social media?
Whether we are pro- or anti-abortion, pro- or anti-war, we have a responsibility to check, in detail, the evidence for a side we choose to take.
And so, for a brighter and clearer truth, let us Exonians think clearly before we believe. Then, we can be sure that our hearts are in the right place.
