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Can we consider our self a nation which separates church from state if a Governor claims that the incoming year will be “The year of the Bible”? Are church and state truly separate if legislation would impede on a woman’s right to govern over her own body? If this legislation were inspired and created by those with publicly proclaimed opposition to this right for religious reasons, is the state then not essentially driven by the church? While Matt Bevin may have made this “Year of the Bible” comment simply to appease a traditionally conservative base , his remark sheds light on the point that American culture has a tendency to judge young pregnant women rather than empathize with their situation.

To suggest this is a public debate , as opposed to an individual woman’s health issue, requires some level of misunderstanding in regards to one’s rights. This is to say it’s not as though protesters and lobbyists would have an easy time obstructing anybody from getting a mole or a tumor removed. This is because a person obviously has the right to get rid of an undesired growth on or within their own body. It would generally be understood that this is the medical business of the doctor and the patient, not concerning outside parties unless desired by said patient. The church doesn’t come in and set up a rally outside the oncology wing of a hospital because people have the right to make medical decisions for themselves as it pertains to prolonging their life. Yet if a young woman wishes to end a pregnancy in a place such as Mississippi, she must jump through red tape laid out by state government. These TRAP laws implemented not to necessarily take away a woman’s right to an abortion, but perhaps make it so difficult to get one that the end result is, more often than not, involuntary motherhood.

The phrase “Separation of Church & State” becomes meaningless if there are any number of woman desiring an abortion who can not receive one due to reasons not relating to money, but state government regulation.