So, your Texas abortion ban posits that the embryo takes precedence over a woman’s rights over her own body, the most fundamental right any person holds. As anyone knows, it takes two to create said embryo, so what restrictions are we placing on men?
Since circumstances be damned, rape, incest, defective birth control, it would be imperative to ensure the paternity of each of these forced births. This would necessitate that upon reaching puberty, every Texas male submits his DNA to a database for purposes of identifying paternity. Protest would be futile, as your ban asserts the primacy of the embryo.
Because the conservative right claims to value human life so fervently, I am sure they, along with you Abbott, would agree that maternal health care should be fully funded by the father, or if need be, through state taxpayer money. Given that American maternal mortality is worse than other developed nations and we are forcing a woman to walk through the valley of death, the least you can do is provide unfettered access to the best medical care, not to mention ensuring adequate food and shelter, for the health of the embryo, of course. And since every child is precious and wanted by you, you would gladly enact legislation to ensure full health coverage until the child reaches age 26. Maybe we should throw in college tuition, too, in case dad won’t fork it over.
Statistically speaking, rape is more likely to occur from 7 PM into the night hours. Since you assert your intention to decrease occurrences of this crime, a wise course of action would be to institute a 7 PM curfew for all Texan males. Under special circumstances, they could be granted permission from an employer, let’s say, to be outside his home during curfew, but he would have to register with the local police precinct to share his whereabouts. This would certainly deter rape, especially since his DNA is already on file.
Mandatory child support would be a given. Once the man’s DNA is associated with a forced birth, his wages would be garnished automatically until the child reaches adulthood. Especially since women still don’t have guarantees of pay equity, I am sure you would be the first to ensure each embryo is guaranteed sufficient financial support. The man would have no recourse, naturally. Embryo takes precedence.
How ironic to see men carry signs bearing the words, My body, my choice when it comes to vaccinations, so it will be interesting to witness their reactions when you, Abbott, fully carry through on your plan to place the embryo over basic human freedoms. You could, of course, admit this has nothing to do with valuing human life and rather an attempt to keep Texas bright, shiny red. But you won’t do that. So man up, restrict the rights of Texas males in deference to the embryo so that it goes on to live that optimal life we all crave, complete with stellar health coverage, and economic security.
Or, we women could all come back as guns in our next lives and experience what it means to be completely restriction-free.
This post was previously published on medium.com.
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