June 24th, 2022 – The Supreme Court of the United States of America has overturned the monumental 1973 Roe V. Wade decision that protects individuals’ right to abortion. The decision came 6-3, with Chief Justice Roberts siding with the majority and a clear split along idealogical lines. The majority decision, penned by Justice Alito, was impassioned and rooted in the school of thought that abortion was never mentioned in the original Constitutional document, nor in subsequent amendments, and that it’s protection under the 14th Amendment is flimsy.
With the decision to overturn Roe, this Supreme Court disrupted decades of precedent, and in doing so has cleared any roadblocks between states and abortion restrictions and bans.
Like many individuals across the country, this news triggered an emotional response in me. I have a uterus, therefore I can become pregnant, and this decision has made a few things very clear. This Court does not believe I should have the same rights as someone who cannot become pregnant, feels the need to allow egregious oversteps into my privacy, and additionally will allow infringement upon my religious beliefs. In this monumental decision to strike down Roe and Casey the Supreme Court has degraded my status as a citizen to that of something lesser.
While abortion is not something I contemplate on a daily basis, the knowledge that it is available ensures freedoms and protections. For the time being I can choose to take contraception as protection, but what if that changes? It could based on Justice Clarence Thomas’s penned opinion to review any cases that were decided on similar grounds as Roe.
Before you roll your eyes at my statement that the citizenship of individuals with a uterus has been degraded, please consider this; an individual without a uterus will never know the responsibility of conceiving and bearing a child. Biologically, without the required anatomy you cannot conceive or bear a child. Therefore, you may engage in sexual activities without the consequence of pregnancy, which would subsequently alter your body and limit your career opportunities, physical mobility, financial stability and general day-to-day activities. Pregnancy is life-altering. Emotionally, psychologically, physically, financially – the list goes on. And while an individual that can’t become pregnant may choose to support someone who can become pregnant, their’s will be a pregnancy-adjacent experience.
Looking deeper, this further polarizes the differences in how we view sexuality between the sexes. Society has a long history of regulating, criminalizing and shunning feminine sexuality and desires. In contrast, male sexuality has historically been brushed away as something uncontrollable, natural and often celebrated. Contraception covers a wide variety of options and looks dramatically different for the sexes. For the most part, birth control is widely associated as a “female issue”, and biologically female individuals are given the main responsibility of regulating and altering their body in order to plan a pregnancy, or avoid a pregnancy.
If we are to look at a world where abortions are unavailable, and birth control becomes unavailable as well, males will again have greater access to careers and job opportunities. Females will lose a substantial amount of ground in the professional sector that was gained because of access to comprehensive health care – which includes birth control and abortion. There is clear and definable data to underscore this point, as well as enumerable historical instances.
The question of privacy, and the potential loss of privacy, has been a concern vocalized by opponents of SCOTUS’s decision. There is deep concern that by striking down Roe and Casey, a path is being cleared to reconsider decisions such as Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell. Currently our right to things like contraception, and same-sex relationships are protected in part because of our constitutional right to privacy. In plainer terms, we are allowed to make decisions for ourselves in the privacy of our own home. To me, there should be no controversy over our right to privately make decisions for ourselves. In fact, it is disgusting to me that our Supreme Court would even consider so grossly overstepping into our private lives. Does that not egregiously infringe upon our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that is explicitly stated in our Declaration of Independence and widely accepted as unalienable rights?
I feel it is important to acknowledge that I can not be convinced that there is no religious undercurrent manipulating SCOTUS’s decision. Organizations that lobby for an end to abortion rarely veil their connection to religious doctrine that life begins at conception, and therefore abortion is murder. No matter that scientifically this has been disproven and that the United States is supposed to maintain a healthy separation of church and state. The belief that abortion is a sin – and therefore should be illegal – is specific to Christian beliefs. In religions such as my own, abortion is often allowed as an option if the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother carrying the child. Many who study Jewish law insist that the mother must consider and prioritize protecting her own life, thus allowing abortion as a choice.
It is important to note that we can make a connection between the science of abortion procedures and fertility treatments. By restricting or eliminating access to abortion procedures, it is not unjustified to believe that fertility treatments and the individuals that seek them out could be drastically affected in a negative way. Criminalizing abortion places burden upon families who are pursuing pregnancy via IVF or other fertility treatments. It is a direct contradiction to the oath doctor’s are required to take, and can have further negative consequences on our already abysmal foster care system. Not to mention, that criminalizing abortion and eliminating it as a part of comprehensive health care will disproportionately impact communities of color and communities at a socioeconomic disadvantage.
My home is in a state that is already poised to further restrict abortion access to a window where many individuals don’t even know they’re pregnant. There are voices in the streets and at our capitol, fighting against the decision to pass more restrictions and the decision to overturn Roe. There are people using their platforms. Yet, I find myself disheartened. Although we look to our elected officials to lead with our best interests in mind, it seems they have forgotten what that means. They are focused solely on an agenda that is usually influenced by those who pad their pockets. So what can I do? Write my feelings? Donate money? Uproot my life and move to a place that doesn’t feel the need to legislate my body? Surely, this is not what equality looks like?
I am a woman whose life has been undeniably altered by SCOTUS’s decision regarding Roe and Casey. I believe it is within my rights and justifiable by fact to claim that this decision has infringed upon my ability to privately control my reproductive system, my quality of life, my access to career opportunities and to practice religious freedom. The Supreme Court has blatantly communicated that because I was born with a uterus, I am not allowed the same freedoms and opportunities as someone who was born with a different reproductive system. I, and those who have the same anatomy, have been told by the highest court in the land that we are not as important. We are second class. And in just a few short days you are asking me to celebrate the freedoms of this land? I cannot while this injustice stands.
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