Welcome to America, folks. The land based on democratic values, Jefferson’s, “Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness,” and inalienable human rights. All except, of course, the right for women to have autonomy over their own bodies. 

On June 24th, 2022, the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe vs. Wade, thus outlawing women’s right to abortion on the federal level. 

This has then left the right to abortion up to the states. But, at least 13 states had trigger laws in place so that abortion would become illegal within 30 days of Roe being overturned. 

5 other states do not currently have trigger laws, but can be assumed to outlaw it based on past court rules that struck down abortion rights in specific cases. 

When the dust has settled, women stand the chance of loosing abortion rights in almost half of all states. 

I am appalled by the decision of the Court. I am appalled by the blatant disregard for human rights. For women’s rights. 

And more than anything, I am sad.

Sad for the teenage girl who made one mistake with a boy that will impact the rest of her life. One small mistake, that without access to abortion, can derail all the plans she held for her future, as she is forced into becoming a mother when she isn’t even an adult yet herself.

Sad for the single mother of three children already, who is barely scraping by, and will not be able to properly care for another child. Sad for the child she will be forced to bare, who will be forced to live a life of poverty because of their mother could not access an abortion.

Sad for the mourning parents who lost their beloved daughter because she was forced to carry a pregnancy to term that ultimately killed her, even though she could have been saved if it had been aborted. 

The women who will pass due to not being able to terminate their pregnancy could have been saved, as, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “The risk of death associated with childbirth is approximately 14 times higher than that with abortion.”

My heart also hurts for the women stuck in these states where abortion will soon become illegal, whom cannot afford to travel in order to have an abortion in the few states where it shall remain legal.

Many of these women unable to travel would be Black or Hispanic, especially with over 50% of the U.S’s total Black population residing in the South, where many of these trigger laws will be going into effect. 

With economic barriers already stacked against BIPOCs, this ruling will most heavily impact them, which can only work to further the already existing economic divide. 

And let’s not forget where many women will turn to when abortions are made illegal — unsafe abortions done through unconventional methods.

These unsafe abortions hold major risk to women’s health, as in the time before Roe V. Wade was originally passed, more than 1.2 million women a year received illegal, unsafe abortions, which claimed the lives of 5,000 of them. 

Now that abortion is illegal once more, we can expect to see these numbers return. Especially with how over ⅓ of women in the US will seek an abortion by the time they are 45. These women, and their unexpected pregnancies will still occur, but they will just be forced to seek alternative methods. 

Abortions will still occur, whether they are illegal or legal. Yet, with legal abortions, they can be preformed by a medical professional in the proper, sterile environment that dramatically decreased the chance of death of health implications. 

Additionally, one must also question what this means for other rulings that have been based off the 14th Amendment, which guarantees one’s right to privacy. 

This Amendment guarantees the right to legal LGBTQ+ marriages, interracial marriages, access to contraceptives, amongst other things. 

When a court believes they have the right to choose what women do to their own bodies, I see it as only a small leap for them to attempt to reverse many of these other decisions.

So, like I said earlier, welcome to New America. 

I am disgusted. I am hurt. I am ashamed.

Where judges rule over women’s access to healthcare, their bodies, and autonomy. 

We must lobby. We must assemble, gather, protest, and speak out. We still reside within a democratic society. We have the 1st Amendment. We have the freedom of speech.

Share your opinion. Speak your truth.

And for the love of everything good, tell these lawmakers to keep their opinions out of every women’s uterus.