Opinion

Abortion fight involves church-state separation

Eric Lane is president of the San Antonio Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Eric Lane is president of the San Antonio Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Photo: Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Abortion fight involves church-state separation 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Limiting or stopping women's access to safe, legal abortion services won't stop abortions. That's the problem with the legislation just approved in Austin. It will return Texas to a time when back-alley, coat-hanger abortions, with women mutilated and dying at the hands of charlatans, was common. It will lead to women buying unregulated, self-administered drugs to end pregnancies. And it will lead to women going to jail or being forced to continue unwanted pregnancies.

These will be mostly poor and lower-middle-class women who cannot afford to travel to another state or country to get an abortion. Women will continue to have abortions, whether legal or not.

But this legislation does even more harm. The impact on clinics that provide health care services and screenings for Texas women will be devastating, placing in jeopardy the health of a huge number of nonpregnant women by requiring them to travel hundreds of miles to receive preventative services such as mammograms and cancer screenings.

Many of these clinics provide contraception for young women and women who otherwise could not afford them. Denying women this service will lead to many more unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

Attacks on family planning services are driven more by religious fervor than by concern for the health and well-being of Texas women.

The Founders created a Constitution that allowed each of us to follow the dictates of our conscience. Whether it leads you to belief or nonbelief, it doesn't matter. What matters is that without this right, without the separation of church and state, we cannot be truly free.

The Founders did not hate religion. They hated the religious oppression and persecution they had witnessed both in Europe and in the Colonies. By separating church and state, freedom and religion have prospered. We should be thankful for our Founder's wisdom.

When it comes to private affairs, we should be able to make decisions without interference from religious organizations that impose narrow interpretations of the Bible on everyone.

Religious right pressure groups do not support personal choice. They oppose church-state separation and seek political power to mandate their doctrines.

To be an American is to have the freedom to follow your conscience.

In a perfect world, women would get pregnant only when they were ready. It's not a perfect world. There are many reasons why a woman decides to terminate a pregnancy. And that right needs to be protected. If your beliefs don't allow you to use contraceptives, or family planning services, or have an abortion if necessary, then don't. But to force your religious beliefs on other Texans who may disagree is not only wrong and un-American; it is very dangerous.

Eric Lane can be contacted at ausa.president@americansunitedsa.org