The debate is on and as the Republican primaries stir the civil rights waters, more and more personal beliefs are colliding with political stances. As an American, I find it horrifying that there are still states that advocate anti-female rights laws. But what I’m most shocked at is the blatant disregard for the woman’s life and her right to her “pursuit of happiness.”

Some states like Missouri have the Woman’s Right to Know Act, which compels medical practitioners to inform women of the medical risks of abortion and of pregnancy, the age of the fetus, and whether or not analgesic administered to the fetus would eliminate or alleviate pain to the “unborn child” during the abortion.

Just a few days ago, a federal appeals court ruled that a Texas law requiring abortion providers to show an ultrasound image of the fetus AND to play sounds of the heartbeat does not violate the U.S. Constitution. The woman can decline to see the ultrasound image, but she cannot decline to hear the physician’s description of it unless the pregnancy was due to rape, incest, or if the fetus has a abnormality. Republican candidate Rick Perry has said, “This important sonogram legislation ensures that every Texas woman seeking an abortion has all the facts about the life she is carrying.”

The invasive legislation pushed forward by Republicans has directly violated so many civil rights. The right to free speech, the cruel and unusual punishment clause in the Bill of Rights, and violates the woman’s right to decline medical information that is not necessary to her wellbeing.

Another bill passed in Ohio makes it extremely difficult for minors to obtain abortions. The new law would require a judge to “hear evidence relating to the emotional development, maturity, intellect, and understanding of the minor.” But as Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, said, the legislation does not factor in circumstances where the minor may be in a violent or abusive home, and it blatantly disregards the possibility of incest.

There is too much legislation regulating abortion and birth. Representatives (who are mostly men and will NEVER be pregnant) try to push bills that would further hurt and harass women emotionally and possibly psychologically. Having an abortion is not a decision most females take lightly. It’s an especially traumatic decision if the pregnancy is the result of rape. Why are legislators making it worse?

The woman’s right to choose should not be hindered or “assisted” with legal ramifications if she chooses not to comply to have a sonogram or to listen to the heartbeat. These laws actually encourage (somewhat) illegal behavior as unsafe abortions. Some women who are scared or who are traumatized will go to unofficial providers and will use harmful methods of obtaining an abortion if they feel they are forced to continue the pregnancy, which no woman should be forced to do.

The woman is then forced to be pregnant, forced to have the child, and possibly forced to raise the child. If she decides to give the child up for adoption, the woman must live with the fact that her child is placed in foster care, adopted, or searching for her. If she doesn’t, then she must care for the child, tied down by the social obligation to be a good mom. Parenthood should be a blessing, not a curse, and some women just don’t want the job.

Women have the right to pursue happiness and if abortion, which is a woman’s right to her body, her right to rid herself of a parasite, is a way to happiness, then so be it. A woman knows if she can handle being a mother or if she wants to be a mother. A woman knows that she can never undue what has been done. A woman knows that the fetus has the potential to be a child. A woman knows that she has the choice to keep the child or give it up for adoption. We don’t double-check men with legislation that requires them to wear a condom unless they are having sex specifically for procreation. We don’t require men to undergo tests that would give them the same pain levels a woman feels during childbirth. We don’t require men to see sonograms of their children. We don’t require minor men to tell their parents they are responsible for getting a girl pregnant.

Why should women be legally obligated to be retold what they already know and then forced to ask permission for the right they already inalienably have to their bodies? Are we going to force suicides to ask whether or not they can take their own lives? Are we going to force women to ask if they can get pregnant?

When does the legislation and the representatives and the bills stop? When you tell them to.