Arkansas for Limited Government has drummed up a new fight for women’s right to an abortion. 

The organization has proposed a new addition to Arkansas’s total abortion ban, adding new exemptions to the current bill. As it reads, the only exemption is for the mother’s life. 

The new exemptions would be for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies and to protect the mother’s life. 

This comes after what would have been the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade becoming the law of the land. 

In a post-Roe world, women are now having to fight for the right to get an abortion in Arkansas if she has been raped. She does not automatically have that right unless she is dying. 

Chelsea and Thomas Stovall from Arkansas were excited when they learned they were having a baby girl. They even had a name for her: Winter. 

At 19 weeks the couple was confronted with bad news regarding their child. The baby was developing without a diaphragm while other organs were strangling her heart and compressing the lungs.  

Because of the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade as well as Arkansas’s strict ban, the couple was forced to look out of state, costing them thousands of dollars. 

Although they could get an abortion, that did not make the experience any less traumatic. 

“I grew up believing it was wrong. I don’t think that way anymore. I just think every woman should have the choice, that women should have the choice to get an abortion if they want to. It’s not a dirty word,” Thomas told THV11. 

Don’t think this is just an Arkansas issue. Women and girls in states with similar laws must bear the trauma of being unable to access an abortion. 

In Clarksdale, Mississippi, a then 12-year-old girl was outside filming TikToks when a stranger came to the house, pulled her around to the side of the house and raped her. 

The victim, called Ashley by Time Magazine to protect her identity, had to finish 6th grade at home, on her computer. 

Ashley could not get an abortion, the closest place being Chicago which was not a financially viable option for the family. 

Ashley gave birth to Peanut, the child’s nickname, when she was 13 years old. At the time Time’s article was written, Ashley’s mother was looking into online school options for Ashley until she felt comfortable going back to school. 

Ashley had to suffer a rape, nine months, a traumatic birth as well as the future trauma of all these events because of how Mississippi law is. Ashley’s trauma is on the Supreme Court and Governor Tate Reeves’ hands. 

These traumatic experiences would not have happened if the mothers could get an abortion. One couple had to spend thousands as their baby died. The other had to hold a baby while doing her 7th-grade math. 

Abortion is healthcare, it’s as simple as that. 

In the case of fetal abnormalities, mothers should not be forced to birth a baby only to watch it die in their arms. 

Babies should not be made to be born only to suffer and die. 

We, as voters in Arkansas, have a chance to help individuals like Chelsea and Ashley. We can help make abortion more accessible as a whole. 

This is not a debate that involves religion. This is not a debate that involves a personal question of if you would have an abortion. This is a debate about having the option to when needed. 

This is a debate about healthcare, both mental and physical. 

This is a debate about dying mothers and dying babies. 

Will you sign the petition to help these individuals? 

Will you stand by idly, doing nothing, and letting people suffer?

Signing this petition is signing to help those who need it most. Signing this petition is a way to show that you support healthcare rights for everyone.  

Categories: Opinion

Tags: Opinion