I woke up to the news that in a rare sidestep of tradition, the Supreme Court is looking to overturn the historic Roe v. Wade decision that allowed Federal protection for abortion. This feels like just another step in the direction of snatching away women’s rights. This looks scarily like the agenda is to go backwards to the days where we had no say and weren’t allowed to contribute in a meaningful way. Our worth was in the babies we could birth and in the home we could keep, dismissing the amazing contributions of women to the advancement of where we are as a whole.
Before someone tries to say it, I don’t consider myself a Feminist. I do, however, feel women should have rights to say and decide whatever the hell we want to do with our bodies. Do you know in many cases, if a woman wants her tubes tied, she still has to get her husband to sign off on it? If a man wants a vasectomy, he needs no one else’s permission. Too often our worth is reduced down to our uterus!
Just for some background on what Roe v. Wade is, here you go: There was a Texas law (of course it was Texas), which only allowed abortions if the mother’s life was in danger. The law was struck down because they decided under the 14th amendment using the right to privacy and personal autonomy argument that a woman should have the right to personal autonomy over her body. That argument won and thus Roe. v Wade happened. At the time, the court said the state shouldn’t have the right to decide on autonomy in this regard. Abortion became federally protected.
Now, the language and the ruling of Roe v. Wade has changed throughout the years, it’s not the same as it was when it was first passed. However, it’s never been overruled…till what looks like is going to happen now. Politico obtained a leaked manifesto about the Supreme Court lined up to overturn Roe v. Wade and it has started a fire storm!
The truth is, this is not just about the value of an unborn child’s life. If it was, why aren’t more funds being funneled into social programs to care for that child once they’re born, especially since the mother was forced to have that baby? The argument many use for that is well, just use protection. We all know protection is not 100%, so when it’s used responsibly and the woman gets pregnant and isn’t ready, she still has no say? I call BS!
Let’s take this a step further with their other argument, if you’re not ready to have a baby, don’t have sex. Are we just simply going to ignore the fact that sex is a natural part of being a human. If you put religious text aside, cause we all know religion is NOT what the driving force behind this is, biologically we are hardwired to want to enjoy sex. As mammals, we are one of the few species that enjoys sex not solely for procreation, but for enjoyment as well. Medically, there are so many health benefits to having sex. So are we truly going to say if you don’t want to have a baby, don’t have sex? If we go by that, we’re going to see a whole lot of frustrated, pent up people.
The truth is this isn’t about the life of a child! If it were, more money would be focused on programs to help struggling parents and give children options. Every year more money is pulled from social programs like Medicaid, SNAP, etc. Are we so focused on the life of an unborn child and then forget about it once it’s here? Or is the mother forced into this decision, and then left alone to struggle without the support necessary?
There are rulings constantly being made to control what women are allowed to do to our bodies, and more recently transgender rulings have come out, but where are the rulings for the men? Where are the rulings for men who don’t raise their children? Why are they continuously allowed to make more babies? Or the rulings for predators? They’re allowed to have kids without restriction. All penalties that are being imposed are toward the woman as if there wasn’t another person involved.
These rulings also don’t speak on a general scale to survivors of rape or incest. They’re going to be forced to have these babies, and if you were to step in their shoes for a minute, could you look into the eyes of a child who looked like the person who violated you and not have that trauma constantly triggered? I’m not saying there is no capacity that the mother can’t love the child, but why should she be forced to even have the baby when the decision wasn’t hers? What about the child who is a survivor of incest and is pregnant at 13 years old? She can’t even get a job to support this baby, so she’ll be dependent on the same social programs that are not a priority for this country. Now, if you’re going to say some bullshit like these cases are few and far between, you clearly have not looked at the rape and incest statistics. For every 4 women you know, 1 of them is a survivor. That’s only counting what’s reported! The majority of violations aren’t reported.
So overturning the protection that allows a woman to decide what’s best for her body and have an abortion in a safe and protected space, what do you think will follow? How long do you think it’ll be before people set up back alley abortion shops again? Women died from trying to do their own abortions. This isn’t an issue about life or the value it should have, it’s an issue about controlling women’s bodies made from men who have no idea how a woman’s body even works! Seriously, you should hear some of the ignorant statements that come out of the mouths of these idiots.
Now, I don’t think abortion needs to be used as a form of birth control, nor do I feel abortion needs to be shamed or celebrated, it needs to be an individual decision. If this decision is passed, or one with similar language, abortion will be inaccessible in at least 22 states that already have near-total bans on abortion, or very early bans, which is usually before a woman realizes she’s pregnant. At least 18 states will have abortions become illegal almost immediately. This will mean a lot more babies being put into the system, more risk for doing illegal abortions, and then of course, what’s to stop more decisions from being made for our bodies? Where does that limit end?
As a woman, having a decision made for my body by others causes a great deal of resentment when these same or equivalent bills/laws are not being passed for men. These are antiquated, ill-educated men deciding on a woman’s rights without hearing the voices of the women. When a man in the position to contribute to these laws being passed says something like a woman can’t get pregnant from being raped unless she gets turned on, clearly has absolutely no understanding of biology or body autonomy…and why should he? None of these laws affect him!
The low-income communities will be hit the hardest and then people will say dumb stuff like “pull yourself up by your boot straps”. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the progress women have made so far to be heard, to have say over our own bodies will be moot. I truly believe that if you’ve never felt what it’s like to have your body autonomy taken, you’ll never know the depth of what it means to have body autonomy.
