In the recent months North Dakota has been leading in the fight for reproductive rights. The state of North Dakota is passing law bills that will help reduce the rate of abortion because of the increased abortion rates due to the many loopholes in their bills that allow abortion to continue.
Recently the state passed two bills regarding abortion. One of the bills HB 1456 states that abortion is prohibited after a point where cardiac activity or fetal heartbeat is sensed during a woman’s pregnancy. To expound on this bill it means that a woman cannot abort a fetus as the woman is six weeks into pregnancy however allowing abortions to be viable from 22nd to the 24th weeks of pregnancy.
The other law HB 1305 that they passed bans abortions for reasons particular to fetal anomaly because of genetics and sex selection. This law is the first law of its type in the history of the United States to ban abortion because of the reasons of fetal anomaly and sex selection since others are due to aspects like that of killing a life.
The laws are unconstitutional with regards to the American constitution. The law on one hand demotes the status of women in North Dakota to that of citizens of a second class since according to the American constitution it does not provide the women of that state with rights equal to those of other women in other states. On the other hand the bans on abortion put the health of the woman at risk since it prohibits the abortion of fetus prior to a woman noticing she is pregnant. This leaves a woman with no option but not to abort once she finds out which violates women’s right of freedom of choice.
The laws not only endanger the laws of women but it additionally interferes with medical decisions that are private between a woman’s doctor and their patients which the constitution currently protects and has been protecting for more than 40 years.
In conclusion this laws that have been put in place need to be reviewed and looked into since they are not fit personally and constitutionally to the women of the United States of America.
Works Cited
“North Dakota pro-choice advocates file lawsuit against strict abortion law | World news | guardian.co.uk.” Latest US news, world news, sport and comment from the Guardian | guardiannews.com | The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/26/north-dakota-abortion-lawsuit>.
"40 years after Roe v. Wade, abortion foes march on." AP Online [Kansas] 22 Jan. 2013: 30. Print.
"ND abortion clinic files federal legal challenge." AP Online [Kansas] 25 June 2013: 30. Print.
"North Dakota Abortion Laws Unconstitutional, Clinic Says - Bloomberg." Bloomberg - Business, Financial & Economic News, Stock Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 June 2013. <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-25/north-dakota-abortion-laws-unconstitutional-clinic-says.html>.
"State Policy Trends 2013: Abortion Bans Move to the Fore." States News Service [New York] 11 Apr. 2013: 23. Print.
