Abbie McCoy

Recently my dad and I had a conversation about what is news and what is gossip. He thinks that a lot of things that people consume today as their “news” is gossip. I agree with him to some extent. The thing that I think about is the fact that if the news is always negative and hard to watch then no one is going to want to watch it at all. He said that the recent news of Kate Middleton having cancer should not have been as big of a news story. While I do think that it might a little bit more broadcasted than it needed to be sometimes it is a little harsh hearing about all the war and destruction in the world. Not that it is not important to hear what is happening and being educated on what is happening in Gaza right now or even Ukraine for that matter I think that is crucial. I just think that if that is all that there is to the News anymore a lot of people will stop watching it. I think that it is also important to educate yourself and seek other resources about various topics such as the war in Gaza. It is so important to not just consume the news at face value but instead conduct your own research to be able to grasp your own concept of what is happening. News should be completely unbiased but there are many channels that do not follow this rule of news and it is unfortunate but it gives us an opportunity to do more and find more resources that are able to help us get a better understanding on where we stand on certain topics. There are a lot of news channels that have stories that are not as big as others and while maybe they are not as important it is still something that is news and breaks up all of the hopelessness of the world.

I am sure that many college students experience this but I feel like almost all I do while at Penn State during the weeks is homework and even then I can never catch up. I have never been the best at time management and this could be playing into the fact that I feel exhausted from school work. I don’t know how this could even be rendered but I know a lot of my friends in school are burnt out and feel like they don’t have time for anything during the week but school. Sometimes I barely get to see a lot of my friends because of studying so much for exams and working on loads of homework. This causes so much stress too. School has always been something that was challenging for me but in high school I always got A’s and passed almost all of my exams but now I have to be content a lot of the time getting a B in a class and it can also be really stressful to deal with academics almost all the time. I am grateful that we get four months off for summer but I wish there were a way for student to explore who they are more here and not always just be stressed about how much homework they have to do and how many exams they have this week. I think with Penn State they try to get Freshmen involved in various activities but after that I feel like everyone is on their own to figure out what Penn State has to offer its students. This is not even to mention the financial burden that is falling on a lot of students here. I am from in state so I definitely do not experience as much as other students who are from out of state but it is just another factor that plays into the stress levels of students here. Especially with the over 19 credits fee that they have in place. I was taking 20 credits last semester and had to drop one because I did not want to have extra fees for my classes. I already pay enough for room and board on top of my tuition I just think that this rule is unnecessary especially with the amount of money that Penn State brings in through other avenues such as football games, alumni, donates, and other events held here.

The Criminalization of Women People Following the Overturn of Roe v. Wade and the implications that it has on Mothers to be. 

In September of 2023, 34-year-old Brittany Watts was 22 weeks pregnant when her pregnancy was deemed non-viable. This news was already horrible to live with but the event following her miscarriage would become even more shocking. Her miscarriage happened while she was in her home, she would later find out that she would be facing criminal charges in the state of Ohio for her actions.

Now, Brittany did dispose of the fetus herself because it was already deemed nonviable. Her miscarriage took place in her own bathroom of her own home. She was arrested two weeks later on charges of felony abuse of a corpse for how how she handled the remains. A woman who wrote the book, Roe: The History of a National Obsession, Mary Ziegler spoke out about this specific case. She said on PBS, “So, essentially, I think what prosecutors are faulting Brittany Watts for is not grieving in the way they thought was appropriate following her miscarriage.” She was then asked if there are any laws in Ohio or anywhere else around this term and how you should handle a miscarriage or report that a miscarriage occurred. Mary responded with, ” No. I mean, so if you are pregnant and you’re looking for guidance about what to do when you experience a miscarriage, the only information you’re likely to find is what you should do to protect your own health, essentially when you should seek medical attention, when you may be experiencing complications versus when you can handle whatever’s happening at home.” This would strongly suggest that Brittany handled the situation in the way that she was supposed to and had no reason to seek any other medical care for a fetus that was not even viable.

This interview points out that there are no clear instructions on what to do when you experience a miscarriage at home. It is unfair that she is being prosecuted for something that has never been clearly stated on what to do when this particular situation occurs. She also mentions that in the way of the Constitution a fetus is not viewed as a rights holding person but we treat it like one for the sake of “abusing a corpse.”

Mary states, “We treat is as a person for the purposes of fetal homicide law, or wrongful death law, or intestacy law, to sort of put incremental pressure on a conservative Supreme Court to move toward the recognition of personhood.” Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade it has sort of opened up more of a discussion for cases such as this one in criminalizing pregnant persons. The overturn of Roe v. Wade was a devastating step back for women regardless of pro-choice or pro-life there is a sense of comfort that women have in knowing that they at least get the choice and that was stripped away. Now even if someone doesn’t handle their miscarriage in the exact way that the law expects them to they will be prosecuted and even face around a year in jail. Miscarrying a child is a hard experience as is, why must we put in rules and regulations for what it is supposed to look like for everyone, and if there are rules about how a miscarriage is supposed to be handled it at least needs to be clearly stated in order for someone to follow it correctly.

 

After my introduction/thesis I want to give some more examples of how women today are being negatively effected by the externalities of the overturn of Roe V. Wade. I will talk more about the issues it causes and what can be done to help these women and what policy/ change can be made so that there are no more stories like Brittany’s.

Then my conclusion will wrap it up.

I know that I have talked about women in sports before but I really want to dive into it with the March Madness brackets going on. I haven’t watched March Madness this season at all but I do know that the only brackets that most people are making are for the guys games and not many people even are paying attention to what is happening in the women’s league. Catlin Clark recently just became the NCAA all time high scorer for both the men’s and women’s divisions. I feel like this does not get enough recognition and it is genuinely frustrating to watch a woman break down barriers and make history and yet it still does not get the attention it deserves. The men’s divisions will always have more viewer and more people in the stand and that does not just go for basketball it goes for all sports. It is very frustrating as a woman who grew up playing almost every sport there was and for most of my games the only people I knew that would come were my parents. I wish we could change the misogyny that so many people are innately possessing when it comes to women in sports and in other aspects of their lives. I still play club sports here at Penn state and some of them are co-ed and I can see the difference in the way that women are treated even within their own teams.

It is very damaging as a child to watch the weight that is placed on male sports and the lack of support for women. I want my potential daughters to grow up in a world where they know that they have equal opportunity and they are not treated as less than in their sport. I want more girls growing up today to break more barriers like Caitlin Clark and redefine what it means to be a women in sports. I want them to get the attention of people so they have no other choice than to watch the history that is being made by women.

The Criminalization of Pregnant Women Following the Overturn of Roe v. Wade and the Implications that it has on Mothers to be. 

In September of 2023, 34-year-old Brittany Watts was 22 weeks pregnant when her pregnancy was deemed non-viable. This news was already horrible to live with but the event following her miscarriage would become even more shocking. Her miscarriage happened while she was in her home, she would later find out that she would be facing criminal charges in the state of Ohio for her actions.

Now, Brittany did dispose of the fetus herself because it was already deemed nonviable. Her miscarriage took place in her own bathroom of her own home. She was arrested two weeks later on charges of felony abuse of a corpse for how how she handled the remains. A woman who wrote the book, Roe: The History of a National Obsession, Mary Ziegler spoke out about this specific case. She said on PBS, “So, essentially, I think what prosecutors are faulting Brittany Watts for is not grieving in the way they thought was appropriate following her miscarriage.” She was then asked if there are any laws in Ohio or anywhere else around this term and how you should handle a miscarriage or report that a miscarriage occurred. Mary responded with, ” No. I mean, so if you are pregnant and you’re looking for guidance about what to do when you experience a miscarriage, the only information you’re likely to find is what you should do to protect your own health, essentially when you should seek medical attention, when you may be experiencing complications versus when you can handle whatever’s happening at home.” This would strongly suggest that Brittany handled the situation in the way that she was supposed to and had no reason to seek any other medical care for a fetus that was not even viable.

This interview points out that there are no clear instructions on what to do when you experience a miscarriage at home. It is unfair that she is being prosecuted for something that has never been clearly stated on what to do when this particular situation occurs. She also mentions that in the way of the Constitution a fetus is not viewed as a rights holding person but we treat it like one for the sake of “abusing a corpse.”

Mary states, “We treat is as a person for the purposes of fetal homicide law, or wrongful death law, or intestacy law, to sort of put incremental pressure on a conservative Supreme Court to move toward the recognition of personhood.” Since the overturn of Roe v. Wade it has sort of opened up more of a discussion for cases such as this one in criminalizing pregnant persons. The overturn of Roe v. Wade was a devastating step back for women regardless of pro-choice or pro-life there is a sense of comfort that women have in knowing that they at least get the choice and that was stripped away. Now even if someone doesn’t handle their miscarriage in the exact way that the law expects them to they will be prosecuted and even face around a year in jail. Miscarrying a child is a hard experience as is, why must we put in rules and regulations for what it is supposed to look like for everyone, and if there are rules about how a miscarriage is supposed to be handled it at least needs to be clearly stated in order for someone to follow it correctly.

 

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-increasing-risk-of-criminal-charges-for-women-who-experience-a-miscarriage#:~:text=Amna%20Nawaz%3A,home%20in%20September%20of%202023.

Something that has been bothering me lately is the overturn of Roe v. Wade. I feel like ever since it happened we told a huge step back in our rights for women in America. I know women that this actual law has affected. In some states, where abortion is illegal, it can sometimes be a crime if there is a situation where there is a choice between the mother’s life and the child’s life and the mother’s life is picked that the mother could be charged. It upsets me that this is the case because I know a family member that needed emergency care many years ago for this exact situation and it makes me angry to know that if this were to happen now that she could have been blamed for valuing her life. Not that she did not value her child’s life but in my opinion you can make another child but if you die then that’s it, and if there is a man in the picture you’re essentially leaving the father to raise a child completely by himself. It is just my belief that women should have rights to their own bodily autonomy and that old men should keeps their opinions out of things that affect women ONLY.

I grew up in a moderately christian household where I knew who God was and I went to church with my family but that was about it. As I have gotten older I have gotten more curious about the religion and my relationship with God. I really do enjoy my religion but I hate that I get scared to talk about it sometimes. I see things on tik tok and instagram where people will very heavily hate on the religion and constantly say that anyone who is christian is trying to shove it down everyone’s throat. I would love if people felt the same about my religion but I fully understand that people have their own beliefs and their own religions that are not christian but this should not stop me from talking about mine. I have seen so much hate about christians in general that other religions would not receive. I will even see videos of people just talking about their religion, they are not trying to push anyone to convert or change their way of thinking but the comments are all very hostile about how they don’t care or they don’t need people shoving their religion down their throats. I do not think that I will ever understand why people who get upset by these videos don’t just scroll to the next video or simply ignore it since it does not apply to them. I get scared of judgement even just writing this blog because I think that I will be viewed in a certain lens based on my religious beliefs. I hope that at some point people will be able to accept all religious beliefs without any bias or stereotypes. I also think that it is interesting to talk to people with different beliefs than me. I find it enlightening to know what they believe and why. I think that it is a beautiful part of what makes each person unique and I love talking with people from all walks of life.