On June 24, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to overturn the landmark case of Roe v. Wade.
This news shocked many people to their core as the right to have a safe and legal abortion had been protected by the government for decades. The effects of a ruling like this presents the question of how many of our rights are at stake? Considering Roe was protected under the right to privacy it begs the question: What other privacies are next on the chopping block?
What’s almost worse than seeing the leading country of the free world going back in time, is seeing the rights of every woman fading in front of our eyes.
Living in Texas where a trigger law was already in place meant that the minute the overturning was finalized, the tension in the air was palpable. In a world that already deals with so many political and economic issues, there is now the added stress of losing bodily autonomy.
So many of the decisions made on a daily basis are rooted in the right to privacy., from whom people choose to be in a relationship with, to the media they consume. Those decisions are theirs to make, and the criminalization of abortions just goes to show that any of these rights could be taken away within a moment’s notice.
Justice Clarence Thomas has already made it clear he wants the rulings on same-sex marriage and interracial marriage to be reevaluated next. This is what the land of freedom has turned into in the 21st century– constantly looking over one’s shoulder and refreshing news apps to see what could be overturned next.
The stress of seeing every issue plaguing the country within seconds of it happening takes a major toll on one’s mental health. Not only do people now have to worry about accessing legal and safe health care — they also have to consider if anyone in a place of power didn’t approve of their life choices, those practices could now be at risk for criminalization.
The right to make decisions about one’s own body should not be the government’s decision. This doesn’t just affect the way young people will go about their intimate lives – This issue now spreads to medical privacy and emergency situations which can’t be made without the consultation of a lawyer first. Decisions like overturning Roe will cost the lives of many people, most from low-income and minority households with nowhere to go.
The saddest thing is that making abortions illegal won’t stop people from getting them. It’ll only stop people from having safe access to the health-care they need. So make no mistake, people will die – whether it be from botched backyard abortions or from being kept from the life-saving procedure they need because it’s now illegal. It seems that the Supreme Court doesn’t really care about those lives or the lives of the families they will be leaving behind.
When a person can no longer make such personal decisions, it will affect their lives in every sense of the word. People will have to consider all of their options before choosing to be intimate. Families will have to worry about what the political views of their states look like before trying to get pregnant for the fear of a potential emergency.
Worst of all, we now have to live our lives with the knowledge that although we may live in our bodies in a sense, they are not just ours. And that is a haunting reality to face.
