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We’ve barely had time to recover from the shock of Texas officially defunding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid and Alabama senator Jeff Sessions (who is solidly anti-abortion) being nominated for Attorney General, and now, us ladies have something new to get seriously fired up about: the potential passing of a national Heartbeat Bill.
Representative Steve King, an Iowa Republican, has officially introduced H.R.490, which is essentially a bill that would “prohibit abortion in cases where a fetal heartbeat is detectable” (so about six weeks), in the US House of Representatives. In an official statement on his website, King declared: “Since Roe v. Wade was unconstitutionally decided in 1973, nearly 60 million innocent babies’ lives have been ended by the abortion industry, all with a rubber stamp by the federal government. Human life, beginning at the moment of conception, is sacred in all of its forms, and today, I introduced a bill that will protect the lives of voiceless innocents.”
Going on to explain what exactly the new legislation would entail, King elaborated that it would “require all physicians, before conducting an abortion, to detect the heartbeat of the unborn child. If a heartbeat is detected, the baby is protected.” All this before concluding that “our most important responsibility that God has bestowed upon us is to protect innocent human life, and I will continue to dedicate my life to that responsibility.”
Not surprisingly, Twitter has been up in arms since the announcement.
abortion is a legal medical procedure. all these attempted restrictions are like trying to make it illegal to remove your tonsils.
— Kevin Allred (@KevinAllred) January 13, 2017
So we're trying to make abortion nearly impossible while doubling the cost of birth control. But then complaining about mothers on welfare.
— g faded (@GraceFade) January 13, 2017
Men: the state shouldn't subsidize birth control
Also men: abortion should be illegal
ALSO men: Wanna fuck?
— eve peyser (@evepeyser) January 13, 2017
Currently, the Supreme Court has established the 24-week mark as the legal standard for when abortion is no longer legal. However, with Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration just days away, many states have begun challenging the current law. In the past month alone, Kentucky and Ohio have passed new laws to lower the number to 20 weeks. Now it seems even that isn’t enough, as conservatives have firmly set their sights on the six-week mark.
Although it is unknown how the House will react to the proposed bill, one thing is for sure: 2017 is gearing up to be a game-changing year for women’s rights. How ’bout that Women’s March on Washington, hmmm? We, for one, have our “pussyhats” knitted and ready to go.
What is your reaction to H.R.490? Tweet us @BritandCo.
(h/t Jezebel, photo via Pete Marovich and Darren McCollester/Getty)
