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Current Events
The Texas Abortion Ban
By Abigail McDonald ‘23
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On May 19, 2021, the Texas administration passed Senate Bill 8: a law that bans anyone from having an abortion if they are six weeks, or longer, into their pregnancy, regardless of how the pregnancy occurred. The six weeks marks the average point that a heartbeat can be detected in the embryo. Although this bill was passed in mid-May, it wasn’t meant to be put into action until September 1, 2021. During this time, many citizens, abortion clinics, and members of the Biden administration have fought hard to undue the law. In fact, some pro-choice activists claim that this is the most “extreme” and “radical” abortion law in the nation. The case was even taken to the Supreme Court by Whole Woman's Health, an advocacy organization for women’s health, and they petitioned for the law to be blocked on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court refused to block the law in a vote that went 5-4.
President Biden’s reaction to this information was a statement in which he swore to work to undo the law, and continue to protect abortion rights for everyone. The ruling has also caused quite the upheaval due to its conflict with the past ruling on the case Roe v. Wade, which occurred in 1973 and concluded that the constitution protects a pregnant person’s liberty to decide if they want an abortion with no interference from the government. The case has also brought an increase in pro-life movements; believers are pushing to have the Roe v. Wade ruling completely overturned. The Supreme Court has taken on this case, and began its actions on the 1st of October; it's expected to have a final ruling by June of 2022.
While many lawsuits and debates are being placed on this new bill, the creation of it has actually made it significantly more difficult for people and businesses to target a specific entity to sue, or blame. The bill itself doesn’t make abortion illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, but it gives citizens of Texas the right to sue any company or organization that performs an abortion after six weeks, whether they have any relation to the person undergoing the operation or not.
For this reason, the law isn’t directly enforced by the government or law enforcement, and therefore makes it extremely hard for citizens to place direct blame. The government has also granted 10,000 dollars and all-paid attorney expenses to those who sue, as long as they win their case. Overall, this bill has created even more tension between pro-life and pro-choice activists around the country. Many pro-life supporters argue that this law is, in fact, constitutional on the basis that it protects the right to life, while pro-choice activists believe it does just the opposite, forcing pregnant people into a life they do not wish to have. The question now is: what will be the final ruling in June of 2022? Whose rights will remain, those of an unborn fetus, or those of a walking person?
Works Cited Liptak, Adam, et al. “Supreme Court, Breaking Silence, Won't Block Texas Abortion Law.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Sept. 2021 Najmabadi, Shannon. “Gov. Greg Abbott Signs into Law One of Nation’s Strictest Abortion Measures, Banning Procedure as Early as Six Weeks into a Pregnancy.” The Texas Tribune, The Texas Tribune, 19 May 2021 Flores, Sergio. Image of Senate Bill 8 Protesters, The New Yorker, 5 September 2021
Afghanistan Research Piece
By Forest Pelletier ’23
Upon the announcement of U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, I was swarmed with a flurry of articles and posts offering their opinions. What surprised me was not that there was turmoil over the decision, but that many Americans seemed to misunderstand why we landed troops in Afghanistan in the first place. This was especially prevalent in people around my age group that would have been too young to understand, or not born at all at the time. Many of these people had only learned about the war in Afghanistan from snippets of information put out by news articles covering current events in the war. As a result of this, I decided not to write about my opinion on the war or withdrawal, but instead to provide a brief summary of why the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan.
One of the big things that pushed the Bush administration to act was fear. The September 11, 2001 attacks had just recently occurred, and many Americans feared another attack led by al-Qaeda. They were especially fearful of the possibility of an attack with chemical or nuclear weapons. 9/11 was unprecedented in the minds of the people, and the Bush administration was mortified that this attack was able to happen on American soil. This leads us to the second reason: vengeance. Bush wanted to capture the founder of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and punish the Taliban that had taken in al-Qaeda and offered protection. This reason was not just in the mind of Bush, polls reported that a majority of Americans wanted revenge. However, it is important to know that once the bombings started, the Taliban offered to negotiate giving up Osama bin Laden to a third country if the U.S. provided proof of his guilt. After hearing of this, Bush stated, “There’s no need to discuss innocence or guilt, we know he’s guilty.” He later communicated that he was not willing to negotiate. Bush didn’t just want to avenge the Americans who had perished in the September 11 attacks, he wanted to go to war in Afghanistan to lift up the American’s spirits, as well as use it as a deterrent for future terrorism and radicalism.
I encourage those of you reading this to look into the events of the war, and how America Afghanistan as a whole. While America tried to raise a stable government and provide aid, many of the attempts were unsuccessful for a variety of reasons. As a result of this, many will argue that we should have done a much better job or just left instead of spending so many years in Afghanistan. I challenge you to read more and form your own opinion about the war. Many events of the past may be regrettable, but we cannot change them, so we must learn what we can from the past in order to work towards a better future.
Work Cited: “Bush won't bargain for Bin Laden.” The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 26, 2021 Engle, J., Gonchar, M.. “Lesson of the day: 'The U.S. War in Afghanistan: How It Started, and How It Ended.'” The New York Times. Retrieved October 26, 2021 Kagan, R. “Opinion | It Wasn't Hubris That Drove America Into Afghanistan. It Was Fear.” The
Washington Post. Retrieved October 26, 2021 “A Historical Timeline of Afghanistan.” PBS. Retrieved November 21, 2021 “Image of Tank and Soldiers in Afghanistan.” Reuters. Retrieved November 30, 2021
