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Restricting abortion won't make us like Europe. North Carolina is already worse.
We often think of abortion access through the lens of arbitrary gestational limits: at what stage of pregnancy does a person lose the right to terminate it?
The state already regulates the incidence of abortion, however, from the very moment a pregnancy begins. Patients face a dismal health care landscape and laws that create needless barriers to care. Despite this, it’s suggested that the United States has been some kind of liberal worldwide outlier on abortion.
But the state of abortion access in North Carolina and across the nation is fundamentally different than in other developed countries.
“We don’t often hear our health policies compared to European health policies here in North Carolina, at least not in a much more liberal kind of way,” Alison Kiser, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic, said. “There are significantly fewer financial and legal barriers to abortion throughout Europe.”
In France, for example, abortion is limited after 14 weeks, with exceptions. But birth control is free for people under 25, there is generous paid parental leave and child care is heavily subsidized. Denmark may appear to be stricter, since it draws the line at 12 weeks, but the law provides broad exceptions that consider a person’s social and economic circumstances. It’s easier to find a provider in most European countries, and the procedure is typically covered by universal health care.
Compare that to Mississippi, a state with just one abortion clinic, or North Carolina, where 15 abortion clinics serve more than 10 million people. Even a first trimester abortion typically costs upwards of $400. It may take someone a while to even confirm that they’re pregnant, because going to the doctor for an ultrasound is itself a burden.
“We don’t often hear our health policies compared to European health policies here in North Carolina, at least not in a much more liberal kind of way,” Alison Kiser, executive director of Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic, said. “There are significantly fewer financial and legal barriers to abortion throughout Europe.”
In France, for example, abortion is limited after 14 weeks, with exceptions. But birth control is free for people under 25, there is generous paid parental leave and child care is heavily subsidized. Denmark may appear to be stricter, since it draws the line at 12 weeks, but the law provides broad exceptions that consider a person’s social and economic circumstances. It’s easier to find a provider in most European countries, and the procedure is typically covered by universal health care.
Compare that to Mississippi, a state with just one abortion clinic, or North Carolina, where 15 abortion clinics serve more than 10 million people. Even a first trimester abortion typically costs upwards of $400. It may take someone a while to even confirm that they’re pregnant, because going to the doctor for an ultrasound is itself a burden.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/restricting-abortion-won-t-us-090000185.html