The Supreme Court is likely to overturn Roe v. Wade endangering millions of women and their individual liberty.
Last week we learned about a leaked memo by the conservative Supreme Court suggesting that 50 years of precedent for abortion rights under Roe v. Wade will be eliminated by June.
The leak was a document of a draft opinion by Samuel Alito about an upcoming case called Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization where all five have the votes to do something radical. Not only did the document suggest that Roe v. Wade should be overturned or that the most extreme case of a ban on abortion of 15 weeks like all Republican led states have implemented, but a ban on all abortions nationwide which might include rape and incest.
Even if you are religious or an open-minded conservative would you support rape and incest of your daughter? Jesus said love thy neighbor and treat others the way you would want to be treated. Is demanding someone carry a child against their will through a terrifying ordeal in line with the teachings of Jesus?
This is unprecedented, wrong, immoral, and a violation of individual liberty and personal freedom. People should be out in the streets protesting not only the justices considering taking away their personal freedom to choose but outside the homes of Senators like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski who voted to codify Roe v. Wade into law this week. Peacefully protesting in from of their homes to stand in solidarity with women who have the constitutional right to control their own body not five unaccountable justices thinking it’s 1483 where women have no rights at all.
Unsafe Abortions Harm Women
My own grandmother who was a nurse in the anti-abortion state of Kansas years before Roe v. Wade was decided told me a lot of stories about how desperate some women were desperate for one after being raped. She described how women went into a dark un sanitized alley in the middle of the night and used coat hangers to induce an abortion. Many of them died from this. Although there are more choices now an outright ban will negatively impact women especially women of color.
Although my 90 plus year old grandmother is against abortions, she is a firm believer in Roe v. Wade because it prevented the loss of tens of thousands of women who couldn’t afford it. She witnessed the horrors of a human being who was alive die because the law prevented her from finding a safer option that didn’t financially burden her when she wasn’t ready.
In a recent CNN poll 59% of all Americans (including 65% independents) believe that congress should establish a nationwide right to an abortion. The majority of Americans believe a women should have the freedom choose which is the pro-choice position giving people a choice. That’s what freedom is about. The right to allow an individual in consultation with her doctor and family to choose. Even deeply conservative Barry Goldwater who sought the elimination of Medicare was pro-choice because a choice represented personal freedom by allowing the individual to make their own decisions.
If you are against abortions based on religious reasons okay that’s fine, that’s your own belief and opinion, I respect those beliefs and we’ll agree to disagree. That’s what freedom of choice is respecting differences and not imposing your beliefs on one side or the other. The Supreme Court now is about to rip away that freedom of choice and force hundreds of thousands of women especially women who have little or no resources into back alleys like my grandmother witnessed in the 1940s and 50s.
I know there are alternatives to this that are safe compared to the early 70s but if this leaked draft ends up being the final decision in the next few weeks it could extend to other alternatives. This should motivate everyone to create or find organizations that help women find safer alternatives once Roe is overturned. Because your personal freedom matters, and nobody should be forced to do something against their own will.
