On Creating Abortion Laws in the USA

Even after decades of the Roe vs. Wade case, US is still pretty ambiguous on its abortion laws. And while the States does offer a lot of freedom for women (and men) seeking abortion than most other countries (namely India, Middle East, Latin American countries) this freedom is still largely and unfairly restricted.

The war on women’s bodies continues till today, like it is legitimate. Like denying women (and men and anyone who can get pregnant) rights over their own body is something that should be taken up by a fine number of men who are in the parliament.

Women held about 19 percent of the seats in the US national parliament (and even less so in most of the states) according to the 2015 Word Bank data. (See source: here) That means more than eighty percent of the seats were held by men.

The abortion laws that are decided within the country are made by the vote of around eighty percent of men and only twenty percent of women.

Why do men get so much monopoly over a situation that targets mostly women?

Hundred percent of these eighty percent of men will never get pregnant. Their right to full bodily autonomy is not on question, their body is not being exploited and their rights are not being denied.

The issue of pregnancy targets almost all of the women (and a few percentage of men who are either transgender or identify as male) and they are the ones who should be having the maximum say (if not all) on what happens to their bodies.

The question about abortion is not a war on women’s bodies simply because it is being put forth to debate, but because those making the decision are not being affected by it. And those who will be affected by it are not getting equal say or representation.