June 24, 2022, “With sorrow — for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection — we dissent.” The joint dissent statement by liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan was stated in response to the 5-4 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade this morning. The opinion, presented by the majority in the Supreme Court, confirms decades of conservative prodding in favor of Wade. This decision puts millions of American women and men with uteruses in danger, physically and legally. 

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling on the case of Roe v. Wade, declaring that pre-viable abortion was protected by the 14th Amendment in the United States Constitution. This ruling took away power from individual states to decide on abortion and protected it on a federal level. Abortion continued to be a major debate in the United States, coming to a head this morning with the overturning. But this is more than a simple ruling and a law. This involves the lives of living and breathing human beings who wish to keep their rights to their bodies, which should be considered a fundamental human right. 

An argument often used by ‘pro-life’, anti-abortion supporters is that aborting a fetus is killing a child. The belief is that a non-breathing fetus, which does not have the capability of living out of a mother’s womb, is considered a human with right to life. The fault that many point towards is: “how can an unborn child hold more rights to its body and its life than a living, breathing, mature human?”

Conversely, ‘Pro-choice’ liberals point to the fact that it is a basic human right to quality health care, including abortion. Abortion is the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. When abortion is practiced by a professional, it is considered one of the safest medical procedures to perform. A conclusion made by Elizabeth G Raymond and David A Grimes on the website, “www.uptodate.com” states, “Legal induced abortion is markedly safer than childbirth. The risk of death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than that with abortion. Similarly, the overall morbidity associated with childbirth exceeds that with abortion.” Forcing a woman to endure childbirth (an act that has higher mortality than abortion) because the law doesn’t protect their right to safely terminate a child disregards the life of the mother and strikes down their right to their body and pursuit of happiness. 

Following the Supreme Court’s announcement, many advocates for Women’s Rights and Women’s health took to social media and to the streets to protest this decision. Michelle Obama, the former first lady, called on the American public to, “channel your frustration and anger into action by getting involved.” The best way to involve yourself is by peacefully protesting and by reaching out to others who are in a time of need. Many women in the country feel  alone and rejected because of this ruling. Be there for them, and speak out for their rights. 

The Founding Fathers of the United States wrote in the Declaration of Independence that every man has the right to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Yet a blatant violation of these unalienable rights goes unnoticed. What happens after that child is born to a mother that doesn’t want it, or can’t care for it. It goes to the foster system, a system that is, and has been broken for many years. According to clccal.org, in California alone, there are 60,000 kids in foster care. This number is only expected to rise. California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, has guaranteed the protection for abortion in the state, and has promised to open its healthcare system to those in states where abortion is to be banned. However, that does not mean California is safe from the effects of this ruling. Those kids born from this decision go straight into the foster care system of states like Texas, which will resort to sending the children all over the United States, because they cannot handle this amount of children. This will flood the foster systems of other states, such as California. 

These lawmakers expect these children to be brought to full term with no regard for the women affected. If a woman does not want a child, she does not need to have a child. What if an unfortunate circumstance such as rape or sexual assault occurs? According to Texas Senate Bill 8, a provider of abortion can be held liable by the state for performing an abortion. This does injustice to rape victims. The bill also allows the state to hold the victim liable, not the rapist. So Texas law chooses to protect the convicted rapist from this charge, but the victim of such a violent act will lose more before they can get better? Senate Bill 8 took effect in September of last year. 

We should also consider the women who won’t follow the law and will turn to the only option left: performing abortions on their own. For those who are fortunate enough to live in a state that does not ban abortion, medication to self-induce termination is widely available. However, in a majority of the states that are choosing to ban the practice, these medications are near impossible to acquire. Another method some use is physical trauma to the body and uterus. Methods include: the usage of poisonous herbs, drugs, alcohol, or bodily abuse. The goal is to cause uterus damage and terminate the fetus on its own. This is where the infamous coat hanger symbol originated. Women would use not just coat hangers, but anything that is long and metallic, in hopes of disturbing the uterus. The coat hanger method puts women at risk of puncturing other vital organs, such as intestines, and causing infection and death. 

States should not stop women from protecting their rights to their bodies. If a state wishes to ban abortions, that state is willing to put the lives of its women and its children on the line. The number of school shootings in the United States is rising, but instead of regulating weapons that can be used to harm children, states would prefer to regulate a woman’s body, a place it should never be. Instead of telling women what to do with their unborn kids, the state should find solutions to the kids fighting for their lives in foster care, schools, or ICE relocation centers. 

This isn’t the end of the conservative tirade on the rights of humans. Clarence Thomas, a Conservative Judge, shared his opinion following the ruling. In it, he points to cases such as Griswold v. Connecticut, Lawrence, and Obergefell, which protect American rights to contraception, same-sex marriage, and same-sex relations. Thomas targets these cases because “any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous,’ we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.” How could a split body of nine decide if as Americans, we should live in fear of who we are, love who we want, and procreate as we wish? 

Roe v. Wade should never have been a reasonable argument to have. Through safety and freely protesting, this decision can be overturned. Americans must urge local and state lawmakers to pass bills in the Senate to  protect civil liberties on a federal level.  Everyone has a right to their body, their life, and to continue to live righteously among others in a free state where we make our own decisions and pursue success through our own means. That is what Thomas Jefferson put forth in the United States Declaration of Independence. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.