A few weeks ago, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed two (more) targeted restrictions of abortion providers, or TRAP bills, into law. When the bills first landed on Governor Bentley’s desk, The University of Alabama’s Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity (URGE) chapter, URGE UA, located in Tuscaloosa, asked our members to call the governor’s office to encourage him to veto the legislation. Unfortunately, he chose not to heed our calls for justice, and now these new laws are threatening to push abortion out of reach for many in our state, including young people.
The Tuscaloosa community, and Alabama community at large, is familiar with what happens when clinics close. The Tuscaloosa clinic was recently shuttered for more than eight months when it could not comply with a TRAP law, only reopening after challenging the regulation in court. The laws Governor Bentley signed last month will have similar effects, forcing clinics to relocate or close down if a legal challenge brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is unsuccessful. One of these new laws bans the use of dilation and evacuation procedures, a safe and medically proven abortion method. The second law prevents clinics from operating within 2,000 feet of a school. This law would force the closure of two of Alabama’s clinics, those in Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, which account for 72 percent of abortion procedures in the state. The ACLU has filed a challenge to these new restrictions in federal court.
Supporters of TRAP laws claim their motivation lies in making healthcare safer for women, but these new TRAP laws, and those that have come before, only make healthcare harder to access. It should be obvious that a person’s health, not politics, should drive important medical decisions at every point during pregnancy. By banning a medically proven method of abortion, Alabama politicians are interfering with doctors’ ability to provide the care that is right for their patients. This is yet another example of those who want to push abortion completely out of reach by passing laws that prevent people from accessing the care they need. Shutting down clinics and banning safe procedures does nothing to improve women’s health and safety, leading me to question the real motives behind the passing of these new, unnecessary regulations.
The supposed motivation behind the 2,000 feet ban is equally misguided. Proponents of the law claim that it is to protect children from the graphic images that clinic protesters often use to harass people who are accessing abortion care. Although protecting children from ghastly and inaccurate pictures is a noble goal, perhaps it would make more sense to regulate the protesters who are displaying inflammatory images that are inappropriate for children to see, rather than clinics who are simply providing health care services and who are targeted and harassed by these protestors.
It is important to note that making abortion illegal or inaccessible does not make abortion go away; instead, it may lead a person to end a pregnancy on their own, which may be dangerous. It also may force Alabamians to travel hundreds of miles out of state to get the care they need, if they can afford to do so. Abortion restrictions disproportionately affect already marginalized communities, such as people of color, low income people and young people, who are more likely to struggle to afford abortion. This is especially true as TRAP laws shut down clinics which puts providers farther and farther away from those seeking care. Increasingly, abortion access is determined by zip code.
For those whose goal is to reduce the need for abortion, shutting down clinics is not the answer. Research has shown that providing affordable birth control and comprehensive sexual education are two of the best ways to reduce unintended pregnancies. Unfortunately, many anti-choice people are also against comprehensive sexual education and birth control, instead supporting abstinence only education, which has proven to be ineffective.
