Roe v. Wade - What does this mean now?

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Across the nation, there has been an uproar over the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the case that constitutionally acknowledged a woman’s right to an abortion. When the US Supreme Court chose to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban with Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization, the landmark case was gutted. While Roe v. Wade, has been at the forefront of the news, other cases regulating a woman’s right to choose have also been reversed, such as Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. The overturning of these cases has impacted women and people with a uterus severely, causing an increase in unsafe “self-managing abortions”. With this human right revoked, it begs the question: what is next for women in the United States?

To understand the gravity of the current and future situation, one must understand Roe v. Wade itself. Decided in 1971, Roe v. Wade was truly the first case of its kind to codify abortion. This case split pregnancy into three trimesters: the first giving the patient the option of abortion by their physician, the second trimester allowed states to impose certain regulations following maternal health, and the final trimester gave states the right to regulate or prohibit abortions where the fetus has reached viability (defined by Justice Harry Blackmun as the fetus having “capability of meaningful life outside the mother's womb”). However, the law still required exceptions for legal abortions in the third trimester if the continuation of the pregnancy would endanger the pregnant patient’s life.

Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey was a case decided 21 years later that challenged Roe. in 1988 and 89. Opposing new legislation in Pennsylvania that added provisions to their abortion law, Planned Parenthood sued the legislator. These new laws required minors to receive the consent of a parent and forced married women to notify their husbands before their abortion. While the court ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood with a 5-4 majority, the Pennsylvania provision of a minor notifying their parent remains as current law. What is extremely notable about this case is that it takes the trimester legalization system that Roe v. Wade introduced and shifts it to an “undue-burden” system that creates a “substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability”. 

While many say the overturning of Roe was extremely unprecedented, the judicial attack on women’s reproductive systems has been ongoing for years, as shown through The 2003 congressional law banning partial-birth abortions. This law was argued in Gonzales v. Carhart, in which it was determined that the law was unconstitutional because a  complete abortion ban imposed an “undue burden” and made no exceptions for the safety of the mother. This case was seen as the first large judicial attack on abortion, bringing America back to the past. 

While these heavily conservative acts are passed in the courts, it does not mean that the American population supports the decisions. The US Supreme Court approval ratings have plunged to 25% according to recent Gallup polls. This dissent against the Court has been illustrated through an array of marches and protests. Arguably one of the most significant movements organizing protests is the “ban off our bodies” movement partnered with Planned Parenthood and the Women’s March, to arrange protest marches in major cities around the country to keep abortion legal. 

So, what is next for abortion and women’s reproductive healthcare in the United States? That is a question that has sparked much debate in our polarized country. With a women’s right to choose being overturned, it creates a bigger opening for more conservative rulings to be put into place. Some of the rights most at risk under our current Supreme Court are access to contraceptives, birth control, and same-sex marriage. Although these rights are popular, because the justices serve their terms for life this generation will most likely be stuck with a conservative majority for the next quarter century. 

Why do people care so much about abortion? Well, it all comes down to freedom, doesn’t it? The freedom to choose. While some people do not believe in abortion, such as devoted religious groups, that personal choice should never impact someone else’s choice on what to do with their own life. This freedom of choice is what made America America after all. Taking this right away, automatically starts to break down the liberty of choice, which would create a completely different country opposite of what this country was founded on: freedom. 

References

"Bans Off Our Bodies: Rally for Abortion Rights on May 14." Reporting on Rights. Center for Reproductive Rights, reproductiverights.org/bans-off-our-bodies-rally-abortion-rights/. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

"Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

"Gonzales v. Carhart." Oyez. Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2006/05-380. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

"Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1991/91-744. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

"Planned Parenthood v. Casey - 505 U.S. 833, 112 S. Ct. 2791 (1992)." Law School Case Brief. LexisNexis, www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-planned-parenthood-v-casey. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

Rosenthal, Emily. "Roe v. Wade Is Gone—What Now?" News Story, 6 July 2022. NYU, www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/july/roe-v--wade-is-gone-what-now-0.html. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

Sullivan, Becky, and Juliana Kim. "These 3 Supreme Court Decisions Could Be at Risk after Roe v. Wade Was Overturned." Reproductive Rights in America, 24 June 2022. NPR, www.npr.org/2022/05/05/1096732347/roe-v-wade-implications-beyond-abortion. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.

Totenberg, Nina. "2003 Abortion Law Upheld by Supreme Court." Law, 18 Apr. 2007. NPR, www.npr.org/2007/04/18/9658191/2003-abortion-law-upheld-by-supreme-court. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022.