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Date Published: June 26th, 2022 This is an opinion piece. For strictly informative pieces, please visit our other articles above.
On Friday, approximately 50 years after its establishment, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court overruled Roe v Wade. The original decision previously constitutionally guaranteed a woman’s right to privacy- the right to an abortion. After previously leaked court papers drew controversy, a 5-to-4 decision by the Supreme Court officially issued the right’s reversal.
This piece consists of opinions written by our team in response to the reversal of Roe v Wade.
Zi Ning Lau: The Land of the Free- Terms and Conditions Apply
Despite perpetual shifts in political landscapes and ever-changing skylines, at the core of the United States lies a flawlessly preserved culture of “American Exceptionalism.” Most accurately encompassed by Puritan leader, John Winthrop, the nation has characterized itself a “city on a hill”— an exemplar of progress revered by inferior foreigners. Americans have deemed their nation “the land of the free,” as if there lies freedom in the enslavement and mass incarceration of African Americans, in the genocide and forced assimilation of Native Americans, and the deadly discrimination of LGBT+ communities.
There is an irony that is intertwined with American pride. There is a dichotomy that is ingrained in American liberty.
At its worst, freedom in America is suffocating.
In America, freedom is weaponized by lawmakers and religious leaders to strip communities of their dignity, their livelihoods, and their humanity. In America, personal liberty trumps societal safety; it overrules the freedom to return home to your children, to access healthcare, to go grocery shopping. It is cited by bigots to feed their savior complexes, to continuously impose their beliefs on dying communities. This twisted form of freedom compromises our ability to breathe. This deluded perception of freedom was irreversibly acted upon on June 24th, 2022.
To put it simply, it is not about the babies anymore. It is not about the babies who have not been touched by the light of day, the fertilised eggs who have not formed limbs or consciences, or the heartbeats that reside within unwilling mothers. This is about humanity. This is about the right to autonomy, the right to independence.
Friday’s decision has revealed the inequality and inhumanity protected by the American way. Friday’s decision has expunged 50 years of progress.
As echoed in previous times of crisis, we cannot stay silent, we cannot stay neutral. Lives are at stake.
Chrisllynn Siah: Faith in a Broken System
As every Supreme Court Justice walks into the Marble Palace, they are greeted with the words, “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” above the main entrance. These words are a reminder of their duty— their responsibility to protect and represent the American people. The black robes they don are not symbols of grandeur and superiority; they symbolize the faith Americans have in a legal system that truly serves justice.
Now, Americans who once believed in the legitimacy of American law hold up posters in protest. They scream their voices hoarse advocating for themselves. They resist the dark realization that is slowly seeping into their minds: the Supreme Court has let them down.
Because it is infuriating to see the black robes turn their backs on 49 years of precedent. It is painful to accept that their reproductive rights have been compromised by individuals who will never experience childbirth. How can we have faith in the system if we cannot believe that it has our best interests at heart? How can we have faith when it has let religion and personal beliefs sway the rule of law? But most importantly, how can we let people without uteruses decide for people who do?
The word “justice” leaves a bitter taste in the mouth because it is coated in hypocrisy. The sanctimonious narrative of cherishing human life will be quickly abandoned when it comes to strengthening child social services, investing in a higher-quality education system, or regulating guns.
While it may be protected from protesters by barricades, the Marble Palace cannot escape the ugly truth that looms over the nation like a dark cloud. The Supreme Court had a duty to represent American lives, and they failed.
Emily O’Brien– The Overinvolvement of the Unwanted
Finding out that Roe v Wade had been overturned felt like a fever dream. I had gotten up early that morning to watch the sunrise with a friend. And as I was sitting there watching the sun peak through the towering redwood trees and shimmer on the morning fog, my phone buzzed with texts from The Student Perspective group chat, cries of outrage and surprise, over this decision. A few minutes later, my dad texted, expressing his sorrow at the rights being stripped away from those who can get pregnant.
The point of this story is that repealing Roe v. Wade affects real people.
It is really easy to get lost in the abstracts as we watch the outpouring of social media posts and protests; the tragedy becomes generalized because everyone is angry. And they should be. But this is a reminder: abortion is a deeply personalised issue. In fact, it is an issue that should be between the pregnant person and whoever they choose.
The Supreme Court has no place in this decision.
Beyond issues of morality, of forcing a 12 year old to give birth to her uncle’s child, of mandating a woman to carry and then give birth to a stillborn, there is the issue of privacy. There is the glaring fact that overturning Roe v. Wade strips hundreds of thousands of Americans of their right to privacy, of their right to bodily autonomy.
In overturning Roe v. Wade, 5 Supreme Court justices have single handedly taken away the rights of countless Americans– each with their own stories, their own tragedies, their own reasons to seek an abortion.
For many, abortion is a necessary procedure. 5 people just decided that those lives don’t matter; that these pregnant people deserve to suffer. The overturning of Roe v. Wade sends a message: the Supreme Court, as well as the politicians immediately drafting anti-abortion laws for their state, don’t care about the individuals. That they don’t care about the platitude of valid reasons for an abortion.
This decision speaks to the apathy those in power have for their citizens, the people they promised to protect.
Mira Nambiar - Make America Grant Citizens Their Rights Again
When we are no longer able to exercise autonomy over our own bodies, when we need to put our own health and safety at risk for a fetus we may not even want, that is how you know that America is waging war on anyone who happened to be born with a uterus. When the penalty for even attempting an abortion due to rape exceeds the penalty for rape itself, that is how you know that America is waging a war on anyone who happened to be born with a uterus. Cisgender women, trans men, and nonbinary people are now all at risk due to the Supreme Court’s decision to prioritize personal beliefs, over their own people.
Not only is this an egregious violation of every person’s right to their choice about their own body, but this ruling will not stop abortions. Abortions could be illegal in every single state, but they would never stop. All this ruling does, is prohibit safe abortions and put millions more women at risk, all because of a choice made by five people, who will never be affected by this decision.
Roe’s overturning opens the door to overturn many other landmark cases. Justice Clarence Thomas has already spoken out about revisiting issues like access to contraception and same-sex marriages within the United States. It is a very real possibility that these issues get decided on in the court, because if such a large precedent like Roe can disappear in seconds in the hands of these nine Justices, what else can? America is regressing and the slope only gets slipperier.
Evelyn: What Does Pro-Life Really Mean?
The irony that comes with the pro-life position is palpable.
Banning abortions does not mean that suddenly, all women will stop receiving abortions, it only increases the frequency of unsafe and dangerous ones. Abortions where women use hangers on themselves, jump off of stairs onto their stomachs in attempt to crush the clump of cells that resides in their womb, take dozens and dozens of different pills in attempt to make their body uninhabitable to the extent that the fetus perishes. The pro-life position forces women to risk their lives and put their long-term health on the line just to get rid of the very thing in their womb that they never wanted in the first place.
Without a well-functioning foster care system, welfare system, and healthcare system, forcing women to have children is absurd. Some of the children that eventually are born from these abortion-ridden women will be put into the foster care system, a system notorious for forcing children in and out of homes that are unable to meet their needs, for not providing proper safety nets for these children, and for inadequately supporting foster youth and families alike. Oftentimes women receive abortions because they are not financially capable of raising children. Without receiving proper welfare, not only will these women suffer under the burden of raising children that they cannot financially support, but these children will be forced to live homes where their necessities are not easily met. In some cases, women may have medical conditions that make pregnancy a life-or-death scenario. They might face pregnancy complications that requireimmediate abortions in order to save their lives. The overturning of Roe results in these women being unable to gain the proper medical attention needed to simply just live. The pro-life position forces countless women to live a life of hardship
When the pro-life position forces women to have children they do not want and forces these children to live unnecessarily difficult lives, that’s when their entire stance on abortion becomes ironic. When pro-lifers care more about fetuses than babies and humans themselves, that is ironic. When pro-lifers fail to mend systems that are vital for children and adults alike, that is ironic. Anytime a pro-life individual fails to emphasize their support towards ‘life’ after a fetus is born, that is when pro-life is synonymous only with forced birth.
Available Abortion/Contraceptive Resources
National Network of Abortion Funds
Splits your donation and gives it to over 95 abortion funds to ensure equal access to abortion and aid those in overcoming financial and logistical barriers.
An organization of dozens of women’s healthcare clinics, public and private clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, and more all working towards supporting abortion clinics and providers in delivering patient-centered, evidence-based care to their patients.
Provides women with financial aid, transportation, and housing assistance for abortions as well as destigmatizes abortion by increasing awareness through education and community outreach.
States where abortion will remain legal (unless further changes, such as amending respective state constitutions, are made):
Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine.
Companies that will assist employees in receiving out-of-state abortions (partial list):
JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N)
Citigroup Inc (C.N)
Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N)
Meta Platforms Inc. (META.O)
Yelp Inc (YELP.N)
Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O)
Levi Strauss & CO
United Talent Agency
Tesla Inc (TSLA.O)
Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O)
Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O)
Netflix Inc (NFLX.O)
Mastercard Inc (MA.N)
Kroger Co
Uber Technologies Inc
DoorDash Inc
Lyft Inc (LYFT.O)
Bank of America Corp
Deutsche Bank AG
American Express Co
Block (SQ.N)
Macy's Inc
Walt Disney Co
Gucci
The Student Perspective team condemns the Supreme Court’s decision to strip individuals of their right to govern their own bodies. We deem the reversal of such liberating policies to be a sign of regression within the United States. As youths, we understand that there are limits to our knowledge; we remain willing to reshape our perspectives and expand our empathy to better aid affected communities and defy acts of ignorance. We hope that, through demands for societal change, such inequality will only be temporary.
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