Abortion law dangerous

What keeps me up at night is the easily imagined scenario of a young girl from a rural county being raped and impregnated, afraid to say anything until she is well past 20 weeks gestation, required to bear a child she did not choose to create. And even if she was less than 20 weeks pregnant, she has no access to the money needed for a safe, legal abortion. She and the child are condemned to continue the cycle of ignorance and poverty, as the government finds more ways not to be supportive.

State Sen. Brandon Smith has no compunction about forcing women to bear children against their will, an unconstitutional breach of the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. For him to pompously proclaim that all conception is a choice is arrogant and ignorant. This is about controlling women. If Smith had the imagination and empathy to understand the sentence he is imposing, on mother and child, he might act differently.

The greatest irony is legislators’ cry to get government off our backs but not out of women’s uteri. Women will die after illegal abortions and suicide, directly because our legislature and governor are taking away our most basic right: control over our own bodies.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Abortion law dangerous."