Women’s reproductive rights sounds like an issue that would be classified as personal, but our current political climate has turned it into a community issue. This has allowed lawmakers, judges, and citizens to have an opinion on the decisions that women make concerning their reproductive health. The freedom for women to make decisions concerning their reproductive health was revoked when Roe v. Wade was overturned. I would like to start by providing background on this monumental case, and then look at how different states are approaching the problem.
Roe v. Wade appeared before the Supreme Court in 1973. This case originated because of the strict laws against abortion in Texas. Before 1973, women in Texas and much of the United States could only receive an abortion if their doctor thought it was necessary to save the mother’s life. The court voted in favor of Roe, allowing women access to safe and legal abortions (Roe V. Wade, n.d.). Before the passing of this legislation, women still received abortions, but they were extremely dangerous and illegal. This illegality of the procedure caused women to seek out unsafe or expensive methods. It created a disparity between women who could afford to receive an abortion performed by a medical professional and women who had to rely on untrained individuals.
Following Roe v. Wade women could receive safe, medical abortions without worrying about breaking the law. This freedom was stripped from women on June 22, 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In this case, Jackson Women’s Health Organization was protesting a Mississippi law that prohibited abortions after 15 weeks. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was the only legal abortion facility in the entire state of Mississippi. The Supreme Court sided with Dobb’s and made the statement that abortions are not explicitly protected in the Constitution (Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, n.d.). This allowed individual states to make laws regarding the legality of abortions. Some states remained safe havens, continuing to allow women access to abortions, but others implemented strict laws that stripped many women of their fundamental right to privacy.
The implementation of different laws in different states caused the country to revert to the dark ages prior to Roe v. Wade. Some women are having to travel far distances to gain access to safe and legal medical care. Women who cannot afford the travel or medical expenses are turning to unsafe and illegal procedures to get an outcome that was legal only two years prior. I would like to analyze the differences between laws in different states because there is very little continuity between states. Even the states with complete abortion bans have different criteria for the exceptions of when a woman can legally receive an abortion.
Currently, 14 states have complete abortion bans. These states are Idaho, North Dakota, South, Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia. This number is ever-changing, as states continue to try to get full or partial bans passed at the state legislature level. In Montana, Wyoming, and Iowa the request to completely ban abortion was blocked, and it remains legal. Within the 14 states where abortion is banned, there are varying levels of exceptions to the ban. The main categories of bans are full bans, bans after 6 weeks, bans after 12 weeks, and bans after 15-18 weeks (Times, 2024). During the first six weeks of pregnancy, some women are not even aware that they are pregnant. In all states, women are given access to a medical abortion if their life is threatened. This is the only exception in many states, completely neglecting victims of sexual assault, rape, and women who aren’t ready mentally or financially ready to start a family.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned some states adopted additional legislature that offered additional protection to women seeking an abortion. These states are Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, and Hawaii. For example, Washington increased the number of providers who can provide abortions and they offered protection to individuals from other states who were seeking a legal abortion (Times, 2024). This allows people from states with bans to safely get an abortion without facing punishment from their state. This is important because it takes away one of the barriers that women from out of state face. The increase in barriers increases the number of women who will turn to unsafe measures to receive an abortion. Other barriers include travel costs, travel time, and procedure costs. Some insurance offers coverage for abortions, but it is usually limited. For example, Pennsylvania Medical Assistance offers limited coverage, but federal regulations require abortions to be covered if the pregnancy is life-threatening (Unlocking Abortion Coverage in the Keystone State, n.d.).
Banning abortions does not stop them from occurring. Women who need an abortion will find a means of obtaining one whether it is safe or possibly life-threatening. Prior to Roe v. Wade, there was an underground network that provided “underground” abortions. This was a secret network of people who provided women with abortions. While this provided women with the means to receive an abortion, they were not guaranteed a safe procedure. A majority of the providers were not medically licensed and were performing the procedures in apartments or other unsterile environments.
Access to abortion is a right that should belong to the individual, not the state. This is a battle that women will continue to fight until all women have access to safe and legal abortions. It is painful to think that the women’s rights movement took a step back in history on June 22, 2022. While this was a setback, it should not be seen as the ending. It is important to stay up to date and educated on abortion laws since this affects such a large majority of the population. This is not only a fight for access to medical care, but a fight for privacy and basic human rights.
References
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392
Roe v. Wade. (n.d.). Oyez. Retrieved February 13, 2024, from https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/70-18
Times, N. Y. (2024, January 8). Abortion bans across the country: Tracking restrictions by state. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html
Unlocking Abortion Coverage in the Keystone State. (n.d.). National Health Law Program. Retrieved February 19, 2024, from https://healthlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/PA-Provider-Guide-Web-Version.pdf
Similarly, I’m talking about this issue for my Civic Blog, because I’m very passionate about this issue too. Ever since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, states have not hesitated to move so quickly when it comes to their state laws on the issue. I think that there is significant other legislation that needs to be addressed all over the country, for example, the poverty issue in America. But the fact that women’s reproductive rights are being stripped left and right is very concerning and its going to negatively affect so many women. Like you said, these new laws are not going to stop abortions from occurring, and the issue will only exacerbate because of that. It is so sad that we as women are still having to fight the same issues that women generations before us also had to fight. I think the overturn of Roe v. Wade took our country back about 50+ years which is another reason why its so concerning. Access to abortions should be a basic healthcare right regardless of people’s opinions on the action. But I overall, just think that its no one’s place to tell a woman what she can/can’t do with her body, and I hope in the future, we will have more female law-makers deciding that fact in general.
This topic is such an important issue in our country today, and I strongly feel that more people need to be aware of how detrimental the legislation of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is to women all throughout the United States. Restricting a woman and what she can do with her own body is something that should absolutely not be enacted. A woman should not be forced by the Supreme Court to limit what she can do with her body and limit the choices that she should have the opportunity to make for herself. Today, 5 out of the 9 Supreme Court justices are men. Over 50% of the Supreme Court have say on what women must do with their bodies when they are not even a woman themself. There are multiple reasons as to why a woman may have an abortion. They may not be financially ready for a child, or they may undergo severe health risks when giving birth. These issues are very serious, and if a woman is facing these issues, she should not be forced to have a child when there are reasons as to why she should not, which men will never fully understand. I hope that in the future there is a change to this legislation and women can choose to do what they desire with their bodies.