The Mirror | Issue 1 | October 2021

12 | OCTOBER 2021
O
OPINION
MY BODY, MY CHOICE?
A seven-week-old human
embryo, above, has more
rights in Texas than the
person who carries it
according to the state’s
new abortion law.
FLICKR | LUNAR CAUSTIC
theMIRROR
VOLUME 108 | ISSUE 1
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
PRINT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Ani Tutunjyan
ONLINE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
Shaan Bhatia
Nathan Han
the MIRROR
EDITORIALS
Punishing the living in defense of the unborn
There’s more than one virus
spreading in America and
one of them isn’t coronavirus.
It’s the attack on
women’s rights.
A draconian six-week abortion ban —
based on when a fetus’s heartbeat is first
detectable — already has pregnant Texans
scrambling to states as far as California to
get an abortion.
A period typically comes every four
weeks, which means banning abortion at
six weeks gives people just two weeks to
realize they are pregnant and make the
decision of getting an abortion. Additionally,
about one in 475 pregnancies are not
revealed until around 20 weeks because
they are hidden.
Texans seeking to get an abortion after
six weeks can be fined up to $10,000 in
“statutory damages” by civil lawsuits that
can be brought to court by any person.
These fines would also apply to abortion
providers or any person who “aided or
abetted” such as Uber drivers that drove
them to their appointment.
There are no exemptions for rape or incest.
Cisgender male politicians who have absolutely
no clue how a menstruating body
works are creating laws that only seek to
police women’s bodies.
These are the same people who say the
government should not be allowed to mandate
masks because “my body, my choice,”
right? Where is that same conviction in
regards to women’s rights?
Why is it okay for the government to tell
women, transgender men and nonbinary
people what they can do with their bodies?
The abortion ban is a calculated attack
on these groups.
It’s not about preserving life. If that were
the case, politicians would also push for
free health care and child care, healthy
“My body, my choice.”
What’s the first issue you thought of
when you heard that: abortion or vaccinations?
It should be abortions but that unfortunately is not what the
phrase is being used for anymore.
The expression is now popular among a new wave of anti-vaxxers
against the covid-19 vaccine.
From unmasked protests downtown to misinforming social
media posts, anti-vaxxers are relentless.
They believe they’re the lions among a herd of sheep, too wise
to fall for the lies of the government.
Well, there are some “lions” among our staff, or at least there
used to be.
Teachers and staff were required to receive their first dose of
the covid-19 vaccine by Oct. 15, and while 97 percent of LAUSD
staff did, 796 chose not to.
And now students across the second-largest school district
in the U.S. are left to their own devices, forced to face the conse-
lunches in schools and covid-19 vaccines.
They would help the nearly 35,000 children
in Texas’s foster care system.
But that’s not happening. Calling themselves
pro-life is just a convenient facade.
Lawmakers and other pro-life individuals
care more about an unborn fetus than
a living person in need of an abortion
whether it’s because they were raped or are
simply not ready to raise a child.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas
would work aggressively to “eliminate
all rapists” but in 2019, of 14,656 rapes
reported, around only 15 percent of
perpetrators were arrested. This number
doesn’t include rape and incest victims
who are too scared to report their assault
or have no faith in the system.
Texas is yet to make any policy change
to keep its promise.
Regardless of whether a person seeking
to get an abortion is raped or simply
JERSEY VARGAS
does not want the child, they have the
right to safe, legal abortion without having
to explain themselves to anyone.
As seen throughout history and in countries
that have criminalized abortion, banning
abortions does not change abortion
rates. It just makes people seek out dangerous
alternatives, even taking matters into
their own hands by using a clothes hanger.
In a state that swears by the Constitution,
the Establishment Clause that separates
church and state seems to be ignored.
Religious and personal beliefs should
have no ties to the legality of abortions, and
if politicians cannot make that separation
when on the clock, then they are not qualified
for the job.
A blob of cells without a functioning
brain isn’t a baby.
To pro-life individuals and cisgender
men: no one asked you to get an abortion
so sit down and shut up.
You lost your job, now what? Teachers and staff would
rather lose their jobs than get a vaccine to protect the
students they claim to love to teach.
quences of teachers who were meant to educate them and shape
them into functioning members of society.
They stand outside their teacherless classrooms waiting for
substitutes to arrive. English teachers are covering math classes
and science teachers covering history.
What are students learning? Not much.
Because how can an English teacher be expected to teach
Algebra 2, a subject they last visited when they were in high school
themselves.
In a time when the nation is already facing a teacher shortage
because of low wages and deplorable working conditions, the administration
is left scrambling to find people to temporarily cover
classrooms and teachers to employ long-term.
In the meantime, students aren’t learning subjects required by
the district and state and elective classes they may have joined
this school specifically for.
So we ask these former teachers, now what?
How do you feel leaving behind students who once looked
up to you?
LAYOUT EDITOR
Antony Nepeyvoda
CURRENT EVENTS/LIFESTYLE EDITORS
Angelina Gevorgyan
Angelica Venturina
OPINION EDITOR
Dakota Threats
PODCAST/SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
Csarina Jarencio
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Isabela Diaz
ATHLETICS EDITOR
Drake Hernandez
PHOTO EDITORS
Angela Proca
Beverly Regino
BUSINESS MANAGER
Makayla Enciso
STAFF WRITERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS
Allison Antonio
Gabriel Castillo
Jessica Cerventes
Jennifer Garcia
Jaden Hantman
Angelina Kanno
Emi Kim
Christopher Linares
Kimberly Luna
Julianna Macfarlane
Vannesa Machado
Kyrillos Mina
Andrea Parada
Mereline Perez
Samantha Ramos
Emma Salehi
Isabella Thomas
Diana Zalmanov
JOURNALISM ADVISER
Mr. Ron Goins
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of Los Angeles, published six times per
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not necessarily reflect the views of The
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