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The Impact of Values

When I was younger, I was quite idealistic (well, more so than I am now). I took, and still take, pride in living along what I believe to be an important set of principles and values. We all do to some extent. Our values guide our lives, influencing the choices we make, and for better or worse, the judgement we cast on others.

But what happens when our supposed values in fact cause harm to those around us when they meet reality? What if we too militantly hold on to our own set of principles to the detriment of those around us?

That is the question I’d like to pose to the legislators and supportive voters of the state of Idaho, Texas, and all others who have forced their values regarding abortion upon the woman in their states.

Conservatives who worked behind the scenes for decades to architect the fall of Roe v. Wade argue the original ruling was “unconstitutional” overreach by the Federal Government, and the matter of abortion should be overturned to the states so voters and each state can be “empowered” to vote on the issue themselves as a collective.

In this argument, conservatives are trying to frame that a voters choice within their state has been stripped away; taken by the federal government. the overturning of Roe v. Wade is framed as positive, as voters have been returned control over this issue.

But that view is asinine.

Roe v. Wade at its core was a protection which guarded an individual woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. The overturning of Roe v. Wade did not take power from the Federal government, but instead stripped power from the individual and thus actually grew the states power over a woman’s ability to make choices.

And states given this power have acted fast to implement their values regarding abortion, to the great detriment of the woman living in their borders.

There are two states I’d like to highlight where there is a clear dichotomy between the anti-abortion principles voters and legislators are pushing, and the very clear ramifications from these principles being implemented on woman.

First, lets look at the state of Texas, where conservative legislators and anti-choice advocates have flaunted the fact that abortion rates have dropped significantly since strict abortion laws were implemented. In their mind, the unborn are being saved, and their values on this issue are winning the day.

Except that’s not quite true.

While Texas abortion rates have absolutely plummeted the past year to the tune of -36,000, abortions rates as a whole have actually increased nationwide, and particularly in states near Texas where the procedure is legal. Colorado last year reported a massive increase in abortion rates. According to Axios there were “2,120 abortions a month from July 2022 through June 2023, up from an average of 480 compared to April and May 2022.”

So as of now, all Texas has to show for instilling their anti-abortion values on its voters is a great financial burden for woman to travel and find a provider, a ballooning maternal mortality rate, and wasted legislation.

Idaho is in a similar, but perhaps even faster sinking ship.

Idaho legislators, excited to finally shove their values around abortion on their voters, have created what will be one of the worst long-term maternal mortality rate drivers of anywhere in the US.

Due to the murky and vague language of the laws implemented, OB/GYN provider are wholesale abandoning the state due to the legal consequences they now face.

According to CBS News, doctors in Idaho are essentially unable to treat non-viable pregnancies, in which the fetus is not expected to survive and the mothers health is at risk, because abortion is the procedure that would be used.

This has led to a growing problem. Many woman (particularly those with high-risk pregnancies) desperately seeking care are given an impossible choice: carry the non-viable pregnancy until it miscarries or there is a stillbirth and risk serious health consequences, or travel out of state.

The result? Hospitals in rural areas are discontinuing OB/GYN services, and more than half of those who specialize in high-risk pregnancies are expected to leave the state by the end of the year. Instead of taking action to address the impact on maternal mortality this will have, Idaho has decided to go the opposite direction and bury their heads in the sand.

As of July 2023, Idaho actually dissolved its state committee tasked with investigating maternal mortality causes, making them one of only two states in the country without a governmental body tasked with understanding maternal and pregnancy-related deaths. The state decided to blind itself to the consequences of their policies.

My point with all this? The values and principles you hold in your head can be completely incompatible with reality.

So sure, people can stand by their principles that abortion is murder, or that Roe v. Wade was government overreach, but if they do, they must also live with the hard truth that such a principle has, and never will, save any unborn when enacted in the real world. It only damages, burdens, and kills woman who attempt to face a new reality where their choices have been severely restricted.

Principles and values are important. They shape our lives, relationships, and cultures. But these principles don’t forever exist as theoretical ideals we hold in our heads, they also influence our actions in the real world. And when these actions have clear negative repercussions, as they clearly do in the case of abortion, then perhaps they were never “good” values to begin with.