You often hear this statement repeatedly chanted at a protest around particularly the Southern United States. Abortion has been a controversial topic that recently came to the center of attention and debate when the Republican state of Alabama passed the Heartbeat Bill.

The Heartbeat Bill places a prohibition on the performance of an abortion once a detectable heartbeat is obtained by a developing child. Legally, the word ‘abortion’ is defined as, “The loss of pregnancy” and does not refer as to why that pregnancy was lost, which means that even accidental miscarriages can easily fall into that category. So no, if you do not want a child, you cannot intentionally consume harmful substances during pregnancy as a loophole. The first heartbeat comes into place usually around six weeks. So after the six weeks when the fetus gets his/her heartbeat, and the mother decides to get an abortion and follows through, both the mother and medical professional can potentially be sentenced to 99 years of incarceration.

“Criminalizing abortion does not stop abortion, it just makes abortion less safe,” writer and producer John Wells argues. Having access to safe abortion is part of our human rights. This atrocious decree lacks exceptions in cases of rape or incest. The combination of law and religion goes over about as well as attempting to mix oil and water, because once you outlaw something, it’s bound to become some sort of a Black Market. In this case, abortions will be carried out in underground clinics, causing stress, and therefore decreasing the mindfulness of the person performing it, which can not only be fatal to the fetus, but to the mother as well. When alcoholic beverages were banned in the US, booze only became more valuable, and there were hideouts complete with bars (even underneath churches!), and it was a mess, to say the least.

Twenty-five percent of women who have an abortion are physically and/or mentally unprepared for the tedious responsibility of raising a child. Twenty-seven percent of Oregonian women have experienced rape, and if they wound up pregnant, they wouldn’t be able to abort the child they didn’t want if similar legislation is passed here. Allowing abortion would somewhat take care of the overpopulation issue, which can lower the notorious homeless population. It’s a woman’s choice whether to have an abortion or not. If you don’t agree with abortions, don’t get one. If you don’t see eye-to-eye with something someone does with his/her body, you have no right to judge them or forbid them from making an individual decision, regardless of whether or not it´s proclaimed to be sinful by your omnipotent deity. Worry about your own body and your own soul. Abortion should be legal, for no one plans to be assaulted, and those who are will not be prepared for parenthood.

According to the First Amendment of our constitution, US citizens are entitled to the separation of church and state, and there is a legitimate reason for that. Even if a particular area follows a prominent religion, not everyone has the obligation to have the same interpretation of the religious ideals. Think about it from this perspective: Why are there six or seven branches and 60 denominations of Christianity in the United States? All of those branches and denominations stem from various interpretations of The Bible, which has been translated into almost every language known to man. I myself may not be a religious person, but one of the most important lessons from that book is to have respect for one another. Some branches of a certain religion may be a bit more compromising instead of fundamentalist, and that should not disrupt the functioning of a community, let alone an entire state or nation. Alabama, if you are reading this, do not let a religious controversy tear apart your community; go with regulations that make sense.