In South Dakota this week, local legislature decided
to ban sex selective abortions (supposedly) being performed in the state. The definition
of a sex selective abortion is quoted as “Yes, as
of right now, if a woman were to walk into an abortion clinic and say, ‘I would
like to have an abortion for no other reason than my unborn baby is a girl’…she
absolutely would get an abortion.” and, according to Representative Jenna Hagar
many abortions (as many as four percent) were performed on women of color who
value men children more than women children (supposedly). However, there were
valid concerns on the part of other representatives, and after closer
inspection much of the data gathered seemed both racist and assumptive. Many argued
that the legislation was searching for a problem that didn't exist and main
detractor Representative Troy Heinert was quoted as saying (in response to Rep.
Jenna Haeger’s statement that “What I know is that abortions up to 14 weeks
right now are currently legal, so yes, I do believe that occurs.”): “I
guess that proves to me that is based on assumption…The prime sponsor just said
that she believes it happens, but can’t prove that it happens. I guess my point
is I think everybody in this room knows where everybody stands when it comes to
this issue. I don’t think anyone is ‘pro abortion.’ I think there are some
people who feel it’s a woman’s right to choose, and there’s other people who
feel that they can decide. My point is it takes courage to stand up and say,
‘This law is unneeded.’ If this was happening in South Dakota, then bring it.
Show me some instances where this happened…but it takes courage to say, ‘This
is an unneeded law, it’s unneeded regulation.’”
As a women of color living in the
world, I think it is important to highlight legislation like this that presumes
to know the minds of women, and also perpetuates racist ideas of women of color
as “bad mothers”, an idea that has been fodder for global condemnation for years.
It really seems to be one more step to eliminating pro-choice right in the
state, regardless of race, but by attaching unsuspecting Asian women as the
cause, it potentially silences their struggle and gives warring factions in
women’s rights another reason to decry intersectionality.
http://www.msnbc.com/hardball/gender-based-abortion-ban-gets-green-light
