Roe v. Wade What Next? An American View

by Sara and Abigail Plomondon, The View Summer Interns

Those are the words on many young women’s minds in the United States. In 1973 the United States Supreme court ruled, in a 7-2 vote, that women had the Right to Privacy.

 This allowed women the right to choose whether to have an abortion without government intervention. It also stated that the right was not “absolute”. The definition of absolute was set later, mandating that within the first trimester the government cannot intervene at all in the mother’s decision. Within the second trimester the government could require reasonable health regulation exceptions, and once the mother was within the third trimester abortions could be prohibited by law. This decision  by the Supreme Court was a huge advancement for the women within the United States. 

May 3rd of 2022 a  draft of a U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe V. Wad was leaked. This has the effect of  overturning the constitutional right to an aborition. Politico published an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Within this 98 page draft, Justice Alito discusses how there is much division in the United States  concerning abortion rights. Some believe abortion may end an innocent life, while others argue that it is invasive to a woman’s body to implement a ban on abortion. 

This draft goes back to the pending 2018 case of Dobbs v. Jackson, (Women’s Health Organization), which argues the constitutionality of the Mississippi Law that bans abortion operations after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Justice Alito wrote this draft opinion to affect the pending outcome of Dobbs v Jackson. In this draft, Justice Alito argues that the court’s holding in Roe v Wade’s roots in the constitution are unclear. Alito continues to heavily criticize Roe v. Wade and its successor, Planned Parenthood v. Casey. 

This initial draft has shown the Supreme Court is voting to strike down Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade has not been completely overturned. However, if it is, it will have detrimental effects on Americans. NPR (Naional Public Radio)  quotes a 2017 study that found 1 in 4 women in the U.S. are expected to get an abortion at some point in thier lives (American Public Health Association). 

Abortion is a valled upon and much needed health service in the U.S. If Roe v. Wade was to be overturned, this health service would be eradicated. The main effect of overturning Roe v. Wade would be that states across the country who have already signaled their intention to restrict or ban abortion will legally be allowed to do so. As of now, 18 states have already set in place “trigger laws” that will be automatically ban abortions as soon as Roe v. Wade is overturned. 

The Guttmacher Institution found that 58% of U.S. women of reproductive age (around 40 million) live in these states holding trigger laws or pre-abortion bans. However, many blue (majority democrat) states such as Colorado and New Jersey have Governors who have signed laws to protect reproductive rights and announced their intention to provide abortion services to people who live in states where that might be restircted. 

The women this draft may affect will predominantly be women of colour. According to the Associated Press, Black and Hispanic women avail of abortions at a higher rate than their peers. Women of color also tend to experience higher poverty rates. Therefore, traveling outside of one’s state becomes much harder to get an abortion. 

By analyzing the states holding trigger laws, we can look at Mississippi. This state lies surrounded by 4 states, Louisiana, Tennessee, Alabama, and Arkansas, all of which also hold trigger laws to restrict or pre-ban abortion. A woman in Mississippi would be unable to travel to a state allowing abortion, unless that woman had the resources and funds to do so. 

Therefore, women of a lower economic class will also bear the brunt of this decision and disproportionately  affected by this ruling. 

When understanding Roe v. Wade, many issues are intractably embedded. These issues with the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned began long before this document was leaked. They began in our school systems and with our children. 

Sex education is not properly taught, in many underfunded school systems they rarely educate women on birthcontrol options, let alone abortion, and how to properly recieve and pay for these birthcontrol options. Having  the option to rely on Roe v. Wade allowed women the ability to choose the direction of their life. The fear of implementing  Roe v. Wade is that it preys on those with a lower income. 

The women who are uneducated about  proper birthcontrol and safe sex will now be affected by not having the right to choose what happens to their body. Women who can’t afford to go to another state to get an abortion or can’t afford to get an abortion at all. If Roe v. Wade gets overturned, young women will have even less access to birth control than we did before and the women in these trigger states will be isolated in their decision. 

The reality that has resonated the most with us, is that if Roe v. Wade gets overturned it won’t truly stop abortions but it will end our access to safe abortions. This  resonates deeply because the reality is that when we think back to a time prior to Roe v. Wade women’s lives  were put  at risk to end the lives of the foetus inside them, and that is what we will start to face again. Women’s rights have been dragged back 50 years by this frightening, leaked decision.