Many conservatives support so called “abortion bans” that in their minds simply protect the life of a defenseless, unborn child. Liberals consider this to be a fascist attempt at controlling women’s bodies and “forcing them to have a child.” Many of their complaints include the negative health implications of pregnancy, the expense, and the mental load. Many conservatives would rebut this by saying “no one forced you to get pregnant” but in reality, perhaps someone did. Perhaps inadequate access to healthcare or education prevents many women from protecting themselves against unwanted pregnancies.
What I propose as part of any abortion regulation is the following:
- Leave it to the states still, but put in place standards of care proportional to that state’s restrictiveness of abortion policy. (E.g. heartbeat bill states are required to provide more maternal care than full term states. States with fewer exceptions and higher pentalties are required to provide more maternal care than states with many exceptions)
- Any abortion restrictions at all require that state to offer free contraceptives universally free all female residents. All FDA approved contraceptives must be made available to each female for her choosing. All healthcare costs associated with prescribing, administering, and maintaining said medication will be covered.
- Moderate abortion restrictions require that the state must offer the above as well as free prenatal care to all pregnant female residents including doctors visits, essential imaging, essential labs, supplements, necessary surgical procedures for the health of the child and/or mother, and birthing costs.
- High abortion restrictions states must offer all of the above as well as early detection testing, postnatal care (including mental health services), and dedicated adoption assistance to all female residents and resident mothers.
- Extremely restrictive abortion states must offer all of the above as well as pediatric medical care for a period of time (1-5 years perhaps), infant care supplies (diapers, formula, clothes, car seat, safe sleep bed, bottles, etc), and childcare cost assistance (perhaps this last one is income/debt ratio based) to all pregnant female residents and resident mothers.
This sounds expensive, but I guarantee we could afford it if we stopped sending money to Ukraine, or cut our budget literally anywhere else. It also leaves the states to decide what they’re willing to restrict based on their budget and their constituents’ values, all while supporting the population that will be directly impacted by any restrictions, regardless of any moral or social opinions on the matter.