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On September 30th, Eagles, a North Carolina federal judge vetoed two provisions on a

ban of abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The federal judge sided with abortion advocacy

groups preventing the bill from taking effect. One of the bills that would have been passed would

have banned physicians from performing abortions on women after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The

only exception to this ban would be a case of rape, incest, or a life limiting abnormality. Planned

Parenthood and The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit arguing that this bill would

ultimately cause physicians to mistreat their patients by not providing them with care. The

second bill that was vetoed was requiring physicians to document the location of pregnancy by

using an ultrasound before administering a medicinal abortion contraceptive. Planned

Parenthood and other abortion advocacy groups fought against this bill stating that it would have

conflicting results and would have several violations under the constitutional abortion law.

Neither of the bills were passed and are currently under review.

After Roe V. Wade was overturned, pregnancy has become less of a choice and more of a

burden. Women started off only being a parent with no life outside of that, which changed

dramatically when women were empowered to have it all (to be a parent and to have a career).

Women were able to choose whether they wanted to be a parent, give the child up for adoption,

or terminate their rights by choosing to have an abortion. Without having access to safe

abortions, women will “lose their right and ability to control their own destiny” (Taylor, P.1).

Since “1973, women in the United States have had the right to terminate a pregnancy” (Gay

270), but the final push to overturn Roe V. Wade was that “the ability to give up one’s child for

adoption cinches the final loophole in the logic of banning abortion,” (Taylor, P.1). Without Roe

V. Wade being overturned, states would not have the ability to individually decide whether or
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not to ban abortions. Eagles would not have had to veto two different bills surrounding abortion

rights in North Carolina. Instead of focusing on more pressing matters our society is going

through, politicians have decided to try to “solve the ‘female problem’ by creating a smoke

screen, reintroducing abortion, and more inexplicitly, birth control into a national debate” (Gay,

P.268). More importantly, politicians and the people ruling out access to safe abortions are not

thinking about the entirety of society but are rather thinking of the poor and colored women

having children, not the rich white women. People with money “have always had a bounty of

choices when deciding to end a pregnancy and when deciding to have children” (Taylor, P.1).

Just because politicians are trying to ban abortions does not mean that abortion will not happen,

“women have been forced to go underground for contraception and pregnancy termination

before, and will go underground again” (Gay, P.269). Although women have gone underground

for medical procedures or contraception, doctors are needed during the time the fetus is in the

womb. Whether it is for a routine checkup, a termination, or something goes terribly wrong

during the pregnancy, doctors provide the care that the patient needs. An ultrasound of varying

types is required before abortion is able to be considered due to legislation finding its way to

intervene in the practice of the patient and the physician. These requirements include

transvaginal ultrasounds in most cases, which is a “state-mandated vaginal penetration without

regard for the consent of the women subjected to these procedures” (Green, Section B). The

process that the women have to endure before terminating their pregnancy is often invasive and

not necessary. Not only do doctors not need the consent of the woman to use a transvaginal

ultrasound, but they also enter the “information about her choice… into her medical record with

or without her consent” (Gay, P.271). Not having consent from a patient to do something

involving the individual violates laws yet seems to get dismissed with no consequences.
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Women have never had equal and all access to reproductive rights. History, inevitably, always

repeats itself and women will always need reproductive advocacy groups to fight for access to

abortion clinics, OBGYN’s, contraception’s, and patient and physician confidentiality. Records

should not be shared with any legislation of women who undergo procedures. Eagles made a

decision favoring the women in her state, and more politicians should do so. Politicians should

be thinking of ways they can make the process for women easier, not harder, and by making

decisions that affect the vast majority of society, it would be best to listen to the groups who

allow access and opportunities for individuals instead of favoring the ones who limit lives of

others.

Works Cited
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McCluskey, Mitchell, and Emma Tucker. “Federal Judge Blocks Two Provisions of North

Carolina Near-Total Ban on Abortions after 12 Weeks, Ruling in Favor of Advocacy

Groups.” CNN, Cable News Network, 30 Sept. 2023, www.cnn.com/2023/09/30/us/north-

carolina-abortion-ban-provisions-blocked/index.html.

Green, Kelsey Anne. “HUMILIATION, DEGRADATION, PENETRATION: WHAT

LEGISLATIVELY REQUIRED PRE-ABORTION TRANSVAGINAL ULTRASOUNDS AND

RAPE HAVE IN COMMON.” The journal of criminal law & criminology 103.4 (2013): 1171–

1199. Print.

Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta. “How Black Feminists Defined Abortion Rights.” The New Yorker ,

22 Feb. 2022.

Gay, Roxane. Bad Feminist: Essays. Harper Perennial, 2014.