Texas abortion laws will only hurt women

State by state, Republicans are turning back the hands of time to the “halcyon days” pre-Roe v. Wade when men were men and women were second-class citizens. Now, almost 45 years after this landmark Supreme Court ruling, Texas state legislators are flying in its face, passing the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion legislation to date, banning virtually all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and denying exceptions even in cases of rape and incest.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry praised his fellow Texans for standing up to “preserve the sanctity of human life and protect women’s health.” If this were so, the law would address the unconscionable fact that our nation’s infant mortality rate is among the worst in the world, despite our incredible wealth. It would also raise rather than cut health services for low-income women, fund sex education and family planning services, and not add requirements that would close all but five clinics currently providing abortion services in the state. The latter will drive our daughters, sisters, mothers and wives to seek out back alley practitioners who endanger rather than protect life.

The current climate in our country leaves the majority feeling entitled and empowered to force their religious beliefs on the minority, despite our Constitution’s provisions to the contrary. This alone makes anti-choice legislation anything but a noble cause.

Sheryl Jedlinski

Palatine