Written by: Shanea Poljansek
It is a very troubling time for all of the women of America right now. For those who have not been made aware of the situation our country is facing currently— as of June 24th, 2022, our constitutional right to a legal abortion has been taken away from us in the United States. In a 6-3 ruling the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, upheld for almost 50 years, which in fact, many women who are citizens of this country, fought so hard for.
The History
The case of Roe v. Wade was brought by a woman named Norma McCorvey— known as Jane Roe— who became pregnant with her third child in 1969. She did not want to follow through with the pregnancy and wanted to get an abortion, however, she lived in Texas where the procedure was illegal, with exceptions for the mother’s health or life. In 1970, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, McCorvey’s attorney’s filed a lawsuit in her behalf against Henry Wade, claiming that Texas’s abortion laws were unconstitutional in the eyes of the 14th amendment. In court, the parties heard the case and ruled in McCorvey’s favor. They then appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.
In a majority opinion written by Justice Henry A. Blackmun—who wrote Roe V Wade decision—the court held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a women’s right of privacy.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision which the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution provides the fundamental “right to privacy” which protects any women’s right who resides in the United States to an abortion. They did also determine that the new law must be balanced against the government and their interests in protecting prenatal life and women’s health. The Court took action on these concerns and announced a pregnancy trimester timetable to control abortion regulations. They also classified the right to an abortion a central importance which requires the courts to evaluate challenged abortion laws under the strict scrutiny standard.
After this court decision, many anti-abortion activists and politicians sought after a change of this ruling. They held protests, advertised signs as well as brought awareness to their movement and wanted to make sure they were being heard, the exact way pro-choice activists were before the lawsuit was filed. Unfortunately for them, the court did not follow through with the overturning until June 24th, 2022, 49 years later. The supreme court did not rule in Roe’s favor this time as the Roe V. Wade bill was officially announced to be overturned in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The decision, which was mostly leaked in early May when they first were discussing the overturning of the bill, meant that abortions were no longer legal and nearly half the states immediately took action with more restrictions.
The Alito opinion included the following Court Justices: Clarence Thomas, appointed by George Bush, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, & Amy Coney Barrett, all appointed by Donald Trump, Chief John Roberts, appointed by George W. Bush. Both the majority and dissent displayed , Roberts stated that “this is a relentless freedom doubt on the legal issue and is a serious jolt to the legal system”
The Dissenting opinion included the following Court Justices: Stephen Breyer, appointed by Bill Clinton, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayer, both appointed by Barrack Obama. They state that the court decision means that “young women today will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers. ” “from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of. A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term even at the steepest personal and familial costs’ ‘ they also mentioned in their statements after the decision was made. “With sorrow— for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent ” they wrote.
How has this decision affected our country?
Since the Supreme Court over-ruled Roe v. Wade, the abortion landscape has changed in a way that has left many people at a loss.
The decision started with a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks. Justice John Roberts voted with the majority but also joined the liberal side in voting against the overturn. This overturning ensured that all of the 50 states that are apart of the US, can essentially establish their own laws pertaining to abortion rights and prenatal life. So depending on where an American lives within their country, they either have limited access, unfettered access or no access at all to a terminated pregnancy. Many of the states had what is called trigger laws, immediately banning abortion once the decision was official and Roe v. Wade was struck down. Some states had laws written prior to the court’s ruling that were enacted as soon as abortion rights were taken away. A handful of other states went a separate direction and signed executive orders strengthening access to abortion, essentially protecting those who choose they would like to get an abortion and terminate their pregnancy.
Even though the decision was made in court on June 24th of 2022, some information was being spread around that was leaked from the case in early May 2022. This almost immediately sparked a great rage and feeling of defeat in millions of women across our nation. Within the week of the first leak from the Supreme Court, citizens were already organizing protests and coming together to be heard and let the government know that they will not back down from this fight— the fight that we already won once— because although many women who are still here today, fought for these rights, there are also millions more women who were born with these rights.
The day the Supreme Court announced the final decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Rights Organization, there were already thousands of protests organized that same day across the nation. The women of our country, who have given the people of our home life, were angry. They were ready to riot, because as mentioned in the Roe v. Wade case, this is a violation of women’s constitutional right to privacy. They will not back down without a fight, and they have made the greatest efforts to make that abundantly clear to the Supreme Court as most of the Justices who were apart of the Alito vote, have received multiple threats and disrupting surprises. But who blames them? This is a war on women. And these women will not go back in history to fight for rights they were already given.
Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice
When it comes to the argument of abortion rights, there really is only two sides to be on. You are either for abortion or against it, whether there’s reasoning behind the opinion or not. There’s no data that can prove 100% accurately how many people associate with each opinion, but it is believed that the majority of women are pro-choice, mainly because women understand what other women go through so most of them understand certain situations. However, this cannot be factually proven.
Pro-Life is the people who are anti-abortion. They believe that abortion is murder, and a lot of their beliefs about abortion tend to stem from religion, meaning they believe any instance involving pregnancy is god’s plan and should be treated as such. They strongly believe in protecting prenatal life, which is where the word “pro-life” mainly comes from. Being pro-life is actually one of the bigger political views on the right side, so a majority of the pro-life community are more than likely to be a republican.
Pro-Choice is the people who are for abortion. They believe everyone should have the choice to do what they want with their body and life, which is where they get the name “pro-choice” from. A huge argument of theirs, is if it doesn’t concern you or affect you, then it’s none of your business. One of the most popular chants from the pro-choice side is “my body, my choice”— which is pretty clear with its meaning—The pro-choice community just wants equality. They believe abortion rights are human rights, and having those be taken away is then looked at as inhumane. Everyone should be able to choose what they wanna do with themselves. Being pro-choice is a bigger left side political view, so a lot of pro-choice members are almost immediately looked at as democrats. However, despite contrary belief, a lot of pro-choice members don’t associate with any political parties.
What this could mean for the future of our country
Back before abortion’s were legal in the 1900’s and even before then , there is no doubt that there were still millions of illegal, unsafe abortions being performed all over the country, despite the possibility of being arrested and putting oneself in grave danger. One of the most common ways women were doing this back then was called “back alley abortions” —which is one of the top abortion methods that ended in death— as sketchy sounding it is, it’s even worse than imagined. If this is really gonna be the future of our country, there’s gonna be more women dying along with the fetus that the government is trying so hard to protect, so the death rate is gonna be higher than if abortions were made safe and legal again.
Abortion is healthcare. They are not just the solution to someone’s mistake. They aren’t just the result of a one night stand gone wrong. They are for the women who may have to go through the trauma of birthing their child they were so excited to meet yet they died in the womb. They are for the women who were raped and don’t wanna have to raise a child that will only ever remind them of such a traumatic experience. They are for the victims of sex trafficking. They are for the little girls who were involved in a incest situation and were to young to understand what was going on. They are for the women who are laying on their deathbed having to make the almost impossible choice of choosing between herself and her beloved child she hasn’t even been able to meet yet.
No matter what opinion you chose to associate yourself with, abortions have saved many lives. Physically and emotionally. Getting an abortion is not irresponsible nor is it a selfish decision. At a certain gestational age, it definitely needs to be restricted accordingly. There is an extent when it does become inhumane but it’s pretty rare for it to happen, or even for a woman to want it to happen at that point. Abortions are safe when regulated and performed by professionals.
There are other bills protected by Roe v. Wade which can cause even more chaos in our nation depending on how things play out over the next couple months. The biggest groups affected by all of this are women, the lgbtq+ community and POC.
What can you do?
No matter what position you take in this fight, there are things you can do from either side. There are plenty of different charities that need donations for both causes, petitions are needing more signatures for all types of different causes for a variety of different situations, you can organize protests and marches no matter where you reside— even just attending ones that have already been planned goes a long way in the aspects of being heard.
If we are going to stand up and make a change, we need to put all our efforts into it. This country is so divided and we are supposed to be united. We fight with our own people more than anything and it is sad. We have reached an era where if we don’t start working towards a better life in this world, all will just proceed to get worse. We can be the change we need, if we all work together. But it has to start now. We deserve peace. We deserve justice. And we deserve equality. Each and everyone of us.
Resources:
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/blog/roe-v-wade-is-overturned-heres-how-you-can-take-action
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3575573-its-not-enough-to-be-pro-choice-now-you-must-be-anti-pro-life/
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3575573-its-not-enough-to-be-pro-choice-now-you-must-be-anti-pro-life/