Last Thursday, state legislators in Arkansas approved a bill that would prevent women from getting an abortion if a fetal heartbeat could be detected. A fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks, which is also about the time many women find out they are pregnant.

The Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act is only the most recent bill infringing on a women’s right to make decisions about her body. Despite Roe v. Wade’s 40^th anniversary last month, an increasing number of legislation is being passed to restrict a woman’s most sacred and fundamental right to reproductive autonomy.

Last year alone, 19 states enacted 43 abortion restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which seeks to advance sexual and reproductive health.

Mississippi, notable for its low abortion rate and high teen pregnancy rate, is home to some of the country’s strictest abortion laws. Such restrictions have left Mississippi with only one abortion clinic for the entire state. Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Arkansas are the only four states in which women must rely on a single clinic, according to a Jan. 21 NBC News article.

Arizona state legislators passed “SB 1359” last year, allowing doctors to keep certain prenatal information from pregnant women if they believe it might cause them to terminate their pregnancy. This information includes abnormalities in a fetus or other serious health conditions.

Carolyn Jones, a Texas resident, learned her baby was dangerously ill halfway through her pregnancy. The baby would need medical care for the rest of his life because his brain, spine and legs would not develop properly.

Jones and her husband made the heart-wrenching decision to eliminate the pregnancy. But, had Jones been living in Arizona, she may not have had the opportunity to make that decision.

Still, living in Texas made the process challenging. Jones was forced to go through a series of invasive sonograms, then had to choose between seeing the sonograms and listening to the baby’s heartbeat before going through with her abortion. These unnecessary procedures made her decision to terminate her pregnancy all the more excruciating, Jones told The Texas Observer last March.

Women don’t always choose to have abortions because of prenatal abnormalities, as the case with Jones. It may be because her pregnancy might endanger her own health, her pregnancy is the result of a rape or she may decide she simply is not ready to have a child. Whatever her reason is, it should be respected.

Choosing to have an abortion is one of the most difficult decisions a woman has to make, but it should be hers to make and certainly not a politician’s.

This war on a women’s reproductive health is frustrating and upsetting, but it’s a battle that will not end until women everywhere have full autonomy regarding their bodies.

Abortions must continue to be legal, safe and accessible. Lawmakers must also realize their duty is to protect women’s rights and respect their choices, not restrict and impose on them.

Rahimon Nasa is a sophomore magazine journalism and international relations major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @rararahima.

Published on February 4, 2013 at 1:15 am