Written by Shereen Jeyakumar, a medical student and 蘑菇视频 Reproductive Health Scholar, published in on October 18, 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how vulnerable access to abortion care is in the U.S. health care system. Abortion is one of the most time-sensitive, potentially life-altering procedures an individual can undergo, however, lawmakers since March have explained it away as an elective and non-essential procedure. in March and April, with most overturned thereafter or removed once elective procedures were allowed to resume. Arkansas still requires women to have a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their abortion鈥攁 requirement that was extremely difficult to follow with the scarcity of tests in April and May.
The most common reasons that women have abortions are clearly exacerbated during a pandemic, highlighting the procedure鈥檚 necessity. 40% of women who had an abortion in the U.S. between 2008 and 2010 as their main reason; 36% chose 鈥渘ot the right time for a baby.鈥� A global pandemic, with record-high unemployment rates (an in April 2020), only validates their reasons and designates abortion as an essential health service that cannot be restricted.
