By Kayla Hoang, Staff Writer
Alabama recently became the next state in America to ban abortion, with what many call the toughest set of restrictions against it.
According to these laws, women are not allowed to have an abortion during any stage of pregnancy, even in the case of rape or incest. Citizens of Alabama who attempt to get an abortion face up to 99 years in prison and could still face punishment if they get an abortion in another state.
With these laws came backlash from across the country towards Alabama, split between the pro-choice side and the pro-life side. Students from Fountain Valley High School weighed in with their one-sided perspective towards the Alabama abortion laws.
So, here was the question: Do you support the recent abortion laws passed in Alabama? Why or why not?
“Alabama, along with every other state that are passing these laws, is being irresponsible because when they’re banning abortions, they’re banning safe abortions, so it’ll still lead to deaths because of unsafe abortions, and that’s an issue. Also, I’m pro-choice, so I support people doing whatever they want. If they don’t want an abortion, then yeah, that’s cool. But for these people to say that they’re pro-life and that they care about life and then to take away the choices of the people who are already alive and then focus on something that doesn’t have motor conduct, or brain development, and to put that above a woman, or someone that’s pregnant, is insane. The fact that they don’t have exceptions for rape or incest is disgusting. I hate these laws; they’re gross, and the fact that the people who passed these laws were male; they’re all white, old men, is not okay,” said junior Siomara Ponce.
“I would say absolutely not because from what I’ve read and heard… it leaves no consequence for the man, only affecting the woman, which I feel is not morally or ethically correct, and I feel like it isn’t better. I guess I’m just not in big support of it because I don’t see how you could put all the emphasis and blame on the woman, instead of the man because from what I’ve read it’s mainly leaving men out of the consequences,” said junior Tyler Le.
“I think it’s dumb. I don’t agree with it. I don’t think a group of men should be deciding what women can and can’t do with their bodies. It doesn’t make any sense to me to have your religion coincide with whatever kind of politics you believe in. Your own religion can have some effect on it, but your own religion should not be affecting the lives of other people. There should be elements of divide between the state and the church, and whatever you believe in should not affect the lives of those around. Your own religion can dictate how you live your life, but it should not control how other people around you live their life. It’s not their responsibility to follow what you believe, because it’s what you believe, not everybody, right? I think it’s dumb, really dumb,” said sophomore Vinh Tran.
“I do not support the new Alabama laws of making abortion illegal only because it’s either not my business or it is my body. And we don’t know what they went through. I don’t think it’s fair that men are making the decision when we were working so hard to make females equal to men only to be shot down by this new law. Personally, I am a Christian, and I do think that we have the right to fight for life, but I think it’s selfish to ask someone to take care of a baby if they cannot. I think that’s only hurting the child in the future,” said junior Christine Nguyen.
“I do not support the Alabama abortion laws because I do not think it is a good idea for males to pass a law that controls women’s bodies. And a law that says that they can’t get abortions after six weeks is really dumb because most women don’t even know that they’re pregnant during that period of time. I don’t think that they’re trying to ‘save lives’ as much as they’re trying to control women since we’re still seen as inferior to men,” said sophomore Vivian Nguyen.
“I do not support the Alabama abortion laws because I believe that a pregnancy should be a personal decision between the mother and her doctor, and governments should not have any interference with their personal decisions. Support abortions or not, I believe that it is the mother’s choice whether or not she wants to go through with one, and the fact that these lawmakers are trying to interfere with it is terrible,” said sophomore Anne Johnson.
If you have an opinion on the abortion laws and would like to write in or be interviewed, please email us at fvhsbaronbanner@gmail.com!
