Blog Post
As many may know, there have recently been many concerns about women’s healthcare in the United States. One of the major subjects that has caused concerns is the Supreme Court possibly overruling Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was a lawsuit that occurred in 1973 that led to the Supreme Court ruling that it is a woman’s right to have an abortion in the United States. That being said, overturning this would mean that the United States would be going backwards into women’s history. They are still deliberating on the issue but women all over the states have already begun to panic. For many of these women, this is an issue of women’s rights.
A major concern that has come to light is that if abortions become illegal everywhere, it will not stop women from getting abortions. It will prevent safe abortions from happening and women will turn to non-medical and unsafe abortions that could possibly kill them. If the Supreme Court does rule to overturn the law, there are a few things that we can expect to possibly follow. There are 13 states that have “trigger laws” meaning that if Roe v. Wade was to be overturned abortion would automatically be illegal or extremely restricted in those states. Women seeking abortions or any caregiver caught performing an abortion will be subject to possible fines or even jail time. Many women find this to be absolutely absurd. Women would need to be extremely secretive if they plan to get an abortion in another state to avoid being proseucted. A lot of women are not happy about other people being in control of their bodies and being told what they should and should not do to them. This is often the main issue for women that support Roe v. Wade.
On the contrary, there are other women that are for the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Some women find abortion to not be a vital part of women’s healthcare. The reason for this is that an abortion is often not necessary for a woman to endure. That is, unless the baby is going to kill the mother if it stays in the womb. Furthermore, some think that the baby is not a part of a woman’s body and is in fact its own being. They sometimes back this up by using the fact that in many states if a pregnant woman is killed it turns into a double homicide case. With this logic, they claim that abortions are considered to be murder and should be illegal. Therefore, many of these women agree with abortion becoming criminalized and believe women or healthcare providers participating in this act of murder should be punished.
However, there are 16 states that have state law in place to protect abortion rights. States like Maryland, Connecticut, and California have already passed major laws to protect women seeking abortions and to also ensure preparation for the expected overwhelming number of women from other states that will also need them. If the Supreme Court is successful in making abortions federally illegal, we will essentially be forced to find ways around it. If you are a woman living in a state that has already banned abortion or is expected to if the law is overturned, one solution is to travel to a state that is prepared to give abortions and has enough resources to also give abortions to those coming out of state. However, this will not be accessible to all women, only those who are able to travel and are educated on available abortion clinics in other states. Women of low economic status and women that are poorly educated will likely not have this option on their own. To fix the travel issue organizations providing abortions in legal states will need to help with some of the costs of travel for those who can not afford travel expenses.
Obviously, in order to lower your chance of needing an abortion, the chance of pregnancy needs to also be lowered. Using emergency contraception within the recommended time limit and dosage is recommended. Also, using one of the various forms of birth control if possible and following your physician’s instructions and recommendations on that specific type of birth control. Using protection while participating in sexual intercourse is another precaution you can take to lower chances of pregnancy. Of course, as we have seen over the years this will not directly stop women from getting abortions but these are effective steps to lower your chance of becoming pregnant and thus needing an abortion.