Yet another opinion on Roe v. Wade

By Neeha Zaman, 2022

Published 5/10/22

Well, the thing that so many Americans have been worried about is most probably going to happen: a Supreme Court draft overturning Roe v. Wade, and in effect, Planned Parenthood v. Casey was recently leaked. The draft, written by Justice Samuel Alito, who in his hearing said he respected the precedent set by Roe, calls it egregious.

Conservatives everywhere have managed to try to play the victim card despite basically accomplishing everything they’ve wanted for the past 50 years, complaining merely about how the draft leaking is absolutely horrible. In reality, the “horrible” thing is that a key aspect of female bodily autonomy is about to be eradicated in the US, as numerous states will undoubtedly put in place complete abortion bans as soon as this key piece of legislation is overturned.

Abortions don’t stop happening just because they are outlawed; the only thing that changes is that abortions become unsafe, with people desperate to undertake a procedure that they should be able to do so safely. Why are we valuing a fetus, which until a point feels no pain, has no heartbeat, and no life, over the life of a woman? Why are people so eager to force women to undergo pregnancies that can be unsafe for them, that can come from trauma, that they simply don’t want? If people are so eager to prevent unwanted pregnancies, why not force all men to have vasectomies, which are completely reversible, until they want to have children? Don’t like the sound of that? Exactly. In fact, for a party that spent all of the pandemic screaming “my body, my choice,” I would expect all of them to be screaming “my body, my choice” outside of the Supreme Court, just like the women terrified of losing their rights. Being pro-forced birth is not being pro-life, because if conservatives were truly pro-life, they would be eager to help parents raise these babies they are forced to have. Instead, conservatives everywhere are doing their utmost best to eliminate social aids, twiddling their thumbs as parenting becomes increasingly expensive. You are not pro-life if you are forcing people to have children that they cannot raise properly.

As an increasingly out-of-touch Supreme Court, complete with three justices appointed by one of the most dangerous and least popular presidents in American history, complete with one justice whose wife is turning out to be an important figure in urging “Stop the Steal,” tries to overturn our right to privacy, the right to abortion must be codified into law. If you’d like to help, consider donating to pro-choice groups, and urge your representatives to support The Women's Health Protection Act of 2022, which would make abortion legal nationally.