As of September 1, 2021 the Texas Heartbeat Bill has gone into effect. “The heartbeat is the universal sign of life,” said state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, in May about the bill he authored. “If a Texan’s heartbeat is detected, his or her life will be protected.”The controversy amongst this new bill has been very evident. Many say that the Heartbeat Bill is unconstitutional. The law makes it so that as soon as the embryonic or fetal heartbeat is detected, abortion is illegal, rape and incest are no exception. Fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as six weeks- before many women know that they are pregnant. 

In an interview with Quinn Smythe, a freshman at Saugus believes,“Abortion is absolutley nessecary; without it the amount [of] unsafe abortions will increase and harm more women. It’s crucial that we provide a safe option instead of restricting because the consequences to the restrictions are far more damaging. Women should not be forced to go through with an unplanned pregnancy, especially under the circumstances of rape and incest.” More than 22,800 women die yearly from as result from unsafe abortions and more than two million women suffer long term health complications from unsafe abortions. 

In an opinion artical for New York Times, Michelle Goldberg states: “As the feminist Ellen Willis once put it, the central question in the abortion debate is not whether a fetus is a person, but whether a woman is. People, in our society, generally do not have their bodies appropriated by the state. It’s unimaginable that they would be forced to, say, donate blood. As we’ve seen, even mask and vaccine requirements elicit mass umbrage. Americans tend to believe that their bodies are inviolate.” It’s evident that Texas’ strict regulations on abortion are flawed, morally, and scientifically. This movement seems to be dragging us into a future where women will be stripped of their own self-sovereignty the minute they get pregnant.

The opinions in The Scroll’s editorials are strictly the views of the writers of the staff or outside submissions. The views do not represent or reflect the opinions or policies of Saugus High School or the William S. Hart School District. The Scroll welcomes all reactions and outside submissions to share alternative views.