Abortion is a right for women.

Women deserve to have a choice when it comes to their abortion rights. It’s their body, their situation and their life.

Only the women who are pregnant know if a baby would be brought up in the right environment. So why take that right away? In Iowa, abortion rights are similar to a tug-of-war game. Planned Parenthood is pulling one end while the State of Iowa is pulling on the other.

In the past months, Planned Parenthood lost the fight for women to be able to have teleconference abortions and consultations with their doctor. 

According to The Iowa Republican, “A doctor is not present during the procedure but instead administers the abortion-inducing drugs after chatting with the patient via teleconference.” 

The Iowa House passed a ban on teleconference abortions saying that it endangered the pregnant mother and the fetus. Planned Parenthood filed lawsuit but lost. While I believe that women still deserve the right to have an abortion, I also think having a teleconference abortion should be banned.

Abortions should be conducted safely and by professionals in a hospital or clinic.

“Abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures for women in the United States. Less than 0.5% of women obtaining abortions experience a complication,” according to guttmacher.org

Because of the uproar of abortions, Iowa’s new restrictions say that if a patient is a minor a parent or guardian must be notified before an abortion takes place. Public funding is also available for abortion but only in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the patient is in danger. The governor must approve each Medicaid-funded abortion.

These restrictions are not bad. They help regulate abortions and increase the knowledge of abortion between families and the government. Abortion is a second chance to life and hopefully a lesson learned.

Having a child, though some may think so, is not a mistake. Unfortunately, many parents treat their children as one. Those parents should take full responsibility of their actions. But if they don’t have stability and money to fend for themselves, how are they going to take care of someone else?

If teleconference abortions are banned in Iowa then self-induced abortions have the possibility of occurring more often. These abortions are neither safe nor healthy for the mother or her fetus.

Methods of self-induced abortions can include kicks and blows to the abdomen, using a hanger or similar device inserted into the uterus through the cervix, or piercing the fetus by inserting a knitting needle, hat pin or bobby pin into the uterus through the cervix.

Other more extreme cases have included the insertion of a rubber tube or catheter into the uterus and attempting to suck the fetus out or blowing air into the uterus to cause miscarriage. These are extremely painful and damaging to the mother.

I would rather see these women go to a clinic rather than have them go through with any of these horrific methods. Remember that you can’t change a person’s mind. With that being said, if a women wants an abortion, she will find a way to do so.

Keeping teleconference abortions legal in Iowa keeps women in Iowa safe. Women need to stand up for their rights; hopefully, Iowa will make the right choice in protecting women’s rights.