The fear against expanding abortion resources is prevalent in this country. Today, millions of Americans are very worried about morally reprehensible behavior, including rampant late-term abortions, abortions-on-demand, and a general 'taking advantage' of the system. Many morally and spiritually-minded people find abortions to be a crisis in our country for these reasons, as they see abortions as the opposite of life-affirming. But expanding abortion rights and access is not about expanding immoral behavior, it's about providing equal healthcare and equal opportunities to people who haven't done anything to deserve worse. It's about eliminating injustices that currently exist, where innocent women become victims of our country's lack of action. Our laws should protect the innocent, not punish them; and I'll give you a clear example of how restricting abortion rights and access punishes the innocent.
Mississippi has 1 abortion clinic in the entire state. Therefore, if you live in Mississippi and you are pregnant, but you are too poor to be a mother, then fuck you: you're having a baby anyway. What if your pregnancy will end in an impending miscarriage? Too bad, because, once again, you're poor and live in Mississippi. What if you will die if you don't have an abortion? Well apparently around half of this country doesn't care, because you're just some poor person in Mississippi-- you don't deserve the same opportunities that others have.
Mississippi's lack of women's health access is for one simple reason: Republican legislation has restricted access to these opportunities, out of choice, not by necessity. We have the power and capabilities to help these women in need, but we restrict their reproductive rights while rich people can get an abortion whenever they medically need one- as is their right. In this light, we seem to have different sets of abortion rights based on one's socioeconomic situation.
Quite simply, restrictive abortion policies restrict healthcare access, which is a grave injustice for certain segments of our population. Restrictive abortion policies disproportionately affect low class and minority populations. Naturally, it also disproportionately affects women.
When policies and legislation choose to force certain groups of people into situations where they have fewer opportunities than other groups, there is a word for that: inequality. When policies and legislation negatively affect women more than men, there is a word for that, too: misogynistic. When they negatively affect minorities more than white Americans, there's also a word for that... racist.
These are facts, not opinions. Restrictive abortion legislation is inherently misogynistic and racist because it (by choice) disproportionately gives opportunities to some people while eliminating those same opportunities for other people.
A lot of people hate being called racist and misogynistic because they don't have intentions on being racist and misogynistic. While that may be true, just because you don't intend on being a certain way, doesn't mean you aren't a certain way. Example: I don't intend on being an asshole, but I am. If you don't want to be called a misogynist or a racist, don't support legislation that creates an inequality of opportunities. Also -- you may be an accidental racist, but if you recognize your accidental racism and correct it, you will be praised effusively! We'll be so happy with your personal transformation that we'd put all that accidental racist stuff in the past!
This is a fixable issue. This is NOT a complex issue like global poverty or the Middle-East crisis -- where you can maybe say "well, that's very nuanced, there's nothing I can do about that, and that's a product of how the world is." Instead, this is a problem that is voluntarily created by Republican legislation. We have enough resources to give these women access to healthcare, but we don't, and people don't realize that their beliefs on abortion lead to legislation that restricts womens' right to legal, moral abortions. Rant over.