OPINION: Roe v. Wade Should Not Have Been Overturned: Here's Why

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States made a decision that would affect millions of people; they decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, a federal law protecting woman’s abortion rights that has been in place since 1973. When Roe v. Wade was originally recognized, it was the first case that protected against the prohibitive regulation of abortion by some states, in which abortion was illegal unless to save the parent’s life. It cited that restricting the right to choose was an attack on their “right to privacy” recognized in Bill of Rights and right to “liberty”, as stated in the fourteenth amendment. It was decided that this right was not absolute, meaning that abortions in the second and third trimester of pregnancy could still be regulated. Despite this, though, the case served as a huge step for women’s freedom and bodily autonomy.

Now, almost 50 years later, the Supreme Court has decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, and with this decision, millions of people will lose their right to bodily autonomy. The overturn of Roe v. Wade does not outlaw abortion altogether; however, it does leave the decision to the state governments, rather than the federal protection of the past. It is predicted that 26 states either will or are likely to outlaw abortion, 13 of which created trigger laws - laws put in place before the overturn of Roe v. Wade that would be enacted immediately after the case was overturned. Additionally, many of these states are in the the South or the Midwest, leaving people there isolated from abortion options; most of these states’ laws completely outlaw abortion, unless it is to save pregnant person’s life.

Millions of Americans are outraged, and over the past few months, people all over the country have protested again the decision, claiming that outlawing abortion is not only immoral, but has undone 50 years of progress since its legalization. The overturn of this law has given the government the power to control people’s bodies: a power that no one, except oneself, should have. According to a poll in 2018, over 70% of voters in the United States opposed the overturn Roe v. Wade. If so many feel this way, why was the Supreme Court so easily able to strip millions of Americans of their freedoms?

It is due to the loud minority of anti-abortion supporters that have campaigned for Roe v. Wade to be overturned. The Supreme Court has reasoned that since the right to have an abortion is not explicitly protected by the Constitution, the arguments that initially led to the law’s passing were “expetionally weak” and “egregiously wrong”. This country has now been split into two sides - pro-choice and pro-life. We need to understand that getting an abortion is a more complex decision than simply choosing to kill an unborn child. The right to have an abortion is fundamental, and yet those in power have found a way to twist the words of the Constitution in order to restrict rights and control bodies.

A common misconception of people that are pro-choice is that they are always pro-abortion. However, that is incorrect. People who are pro-choice are for allowing others to have control over their bodies and a choice in what happens to them. It is a very hard decision to make to have an abortion, and it is not a decision that one takes lightly. It is not necessarily that one wants to have an abortion, but that it is necessary for one’s mental and physical health. When someone wants to have an abortion, they have a reason for it, and that right should not be violated. The government should not have the right to control what one does with their own body - it is a clear abuse of power.

Often, people think that the only reasons someone should have an abortion are fatal risk, incest, or sexual assault. These cases are sometime protected under abortion laws, although in some states, even abortion in the case of sexual assault or incest is banned. However, one might also have an abotion is they are too young, unable to take care of a child emotionally or financially, or are simply not ready to have children. All of these are valid reasons for why someone might choose to have an abortion, and it is immoral for the government to force people to have the child anyways.It is not pro-life when one is forcing both the parent and child into a life that isn’t going to be as good. The person who is pregnant will have to work through the trauma of having a child when they are not ready while simultaneously raising a child.

Many pro-lifers argue that if someone has gotten pregnant it is their fault, that they would be killing an unborn child by having an abortion, and that they should be forced to have the child anyways. Often, adoption is cited as an alternative for those who cannot raise a child. However, more than 50% of abortions are from pregnancies that resulted from abuse and sexual assault. Additionally, neither childcare nor foster care systems in this country offer the quality of life that a child deserves. Forcing one to have the child is not pro-life - it not only destroys the quality of life for the parent, but for their potential child as well.

Additionally, it is important to note that when Roe v. Wade was first put into place, the amount of abortions increased, but not drastically. People were still performing abortions before then, often by themselves. With the overturning, people will revert to having unsafe abortions, without access to medical professionals to help ensure the abortion goes smoothly, resulting in more risks.

The problem is, even with all of these horrible consequences, most people don’t care when it doesn’t affect them. If they are not at risk of getting pregnant, then they don’t see the problem with outlawing abortion. They tell people that it’s their fault for getting pregnant, that if they were more responsible, then they wouldn’t have this problem. What we need is for people in this country, especially those not at risk of getting pregnant, to have empathy. Even I, as a woman, cannot understand what it’s like to have an unwanted pregnancy, as that has not happened to me. I can guess at what it might feel like, but I do not know the full scope of what people have to go through when they make the decision to get an abortion. And, living in California, I also cannot understand the effect that the overturn of Roe v. Wade will have on people as much, and I will most likely always have the right to get an abortion.

This recent decision can feel unreal or unimportant when it doesn’t directly affect oneself. The overturning of Roe v. Wade is unjust and immoral. We cannot wait to come to that conclusion until it affects us directly - we must acknowledge this now, for all those who have been hurt. I cannot speak from a place of personal experience, but I can speak from a place of empathy and understanding. If more Americans spoke out against what is unjust, rather than ignoring what does not affect them, we may not be living in a country that can so easily strip us of our rights.