Abortion Ban in Arizona

I posted a link on Facebook to this article:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/arizona-enacts-ban-abortions-based-gender-race-20110329-214717-860.html

In it, they talk about the fact that Arizona has now passed a law decreeing it illegal to perform an abortion for gender or race of the fetus.

My posting this doesn't mean that I agree with using abortions to select the gender or race of the fetus. Personally, I'm against that, as much as I am against women using abortions as a form of birth control. Not to sound racist, but I've only ever heard of that happening in China. There was even an episode of Boston Legal about it. However, I have never heard of a real case in the States where anyone aborted because of the gender of their unborn child, much less because of the race. If you get knocked up by someone of a different race, well then you'd know damn well what the race of the child is going to be... so don't have sex with a different race if you don't want to have a child with them!

This brings me to another point I'd like to make: Generally, the only accurate way to tell the sex of the baby is at 16 weeks or later. This is something I also disagree with: late-term abortions. By that point, I could already feel Marshall moving around inside of me. I couldn't imagine having an abortion at that point! And when we actually found out we were having a boy, I was 20 weeks pregnant. He was definitely moving around noticeably and frequently then! How could anyone abort at that stage of a pregnancy? It's sick, in my opinion.

I would like to clarify, though; I am pro-choice. I believe a women's body is her own, and it's her choice ultimately what she does when faced with an unplanned, unwanted pregnancy. If you take away a woman's right to choose, she will simply end up going to a back-door surgery instead. I don't think I need to tell any of you how dangerous this would be, especially if you've read about it from back in the day before abortions were legalized. There will be no way to prove if a woman is getting an abortion simply to select the race or gender of her child, because I highly doubt anyone would be stupid enough to volunteer that information. This law only forces doctors to ask their patients the reason for seeking an abortion, which is unfair, as most women won't really feel comfortable listing their reasons to a stranger. It will also have no effect really, because if that were the reason said woman was seeking an abortion, she'll simply lie in order to get it.

I also think it's highly unfair to punish the doctors who perform the operation, rather than the patient. If the woman is the one who wants to abort the child because it's not the sex or race they want, let it be on her head. If you're going to slowly try to control a woman's right to choose, then the woman is the one who should be punished. Even as I'm writing this, I have conflicting feelings about this whole issue. Women have a fundamental right to choose, in my opinion, but they shouldn't use that right to choose whether they have a boy or a girl. Does that clarify things?

I am against this new law, as I see it as a stepping stone to banning abortions altogether. However I also don't agree with having an abortion for the reason of race or gender selection. It's a slippery slope they're headed down, and I'm afraid to see where it will lead.