Thoughts on Roe v. Wade in danger of being overturned
On May 2, 2022, a draft of the Supreme Court’s vote to strike down Roe v. Wade was leaked to the world by Politico. In the following days, many politicians — including President Joe Biden — spoke up defending Roe v. Wade. However, on May 11, a vote to protect and codify Roe v. Wade failed in the Senate.
In a 49-51 ruling, the bill was unable to reach the 60-vote minimum to be passed, with Sen. Joe Manchin being the only Democrat to vote against the bill despite claiming to be “pro-life and proud of it.” The Democratic Party is now under extreme pressure to take action with fears of Roe v. Wade being struck down sooner rather than later.
In a recent poll conducted by CBS, almost two-thirds of Americans say Roe v. Wade should be left as is, which goes to show how nondemocratic America truly is when only 51 people can decide the fate of a country whose population is roughly 330 million.
What some people fail to realize is that Roe v. Wade being struck down would bring an end to safe, legal abortion. People will still be having abortions but now risking their own health to do something which should be a basic right to have.
Dr. Jonathan Bearak released an article in 2020 looking at abortion rates from 1990 to 1994 and 2015 to 2019, and came to the conclusion that people will still seek abortions even in places where it is restricted. He also found people in higher-income countries have better access to sexual and reproductive health care.
An abortion can cost up to $750 — depending on the clinic you go to or the insurance you have — according to Planned Parenthood. But with the removal of Roe v. Wade, the number of unsafe abortions will rise, which is even more costly in both the immediate and long-term need for this procedure.
On the World Health Organization’s (WHO) webpage for abortions, they state an estimate from 2006 showed that complications of unsafe abortions cost developing countries’ health systems $553 million per year for post-abortion treatments. Afterward, the same estimate showed that households lost $922 million in income because of long-term disability from unsafe practices.
Vasectomies are a pretty common practice that can help reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. According to Planned Parenthood, vasectomies cost anywhere from $0 to $1,000 — which can vary based on insurance.
Vasectomies are something men can control with their own bodies, which brings me to my next point— there is absolutely no reason for men to be making decisions and laws on women’s lives and what they can do with their bodies. I don’t know, call me crazy, but this seems like a good way for the people affected to be the ones making the decisions.
If Roe v. Wade is struck down, it has the potential to lead to a downward spiral, inevitably backtracking and erasing years of progress for women’s rights. For a country claiming to be the “land of the free,” there sure are a lot of restrictions on women’s lives.
Yousef • Jun 28, 2022 at 8:37 AM
IT HAS BEEN DONE DOWN WITH ROE LIFE TO BABIES!
Yousef • May 31, 2022 at 4:34 PM
Roe being struck down does not end abortion, it merely gives states the right to regulate it as they see fit. It shifts the battlefield from a federal level to state by state level.
The CBS poll you mentioned is flawed. People, when asked surface level questions about topics they know little about, give uninformed answers. Talk to people on the street, spend 5 minutes explaining when abortion should be legal, bring a gestational chart showing the baby week by week and what they develop on those weeks and i would be willing to bet people would lean more on restricting abortion as opposed to allowing it.
You’re also misrepresenting the bill the democrats were proposing. the bill would NOT have codified Roe. Roe is based off of an arbitrary trimester framework further edited by casey. The bill would have allowed what new york and colorado are doing. Abortion on demand up until the point of birth for any reason. That is Evil. It makes pagan practices of child sacrifice blush at its barbarity.
If you have an issue with Federalism and the role of the Senate in that structure then you are free to leave or reform the system. The senate was not intended to represent the people. It was meant to represent the states. Hence why senators used to be elected by state legislatures instead of popular vote As for Mansion voting against the bill as previously mentioned the bill does not codify Roe it goes far beyond Roe. Mansion is from blood red WV and would not be able to stand reelection if he voted for this.
Alumni - 2013 • May 23, 2022 at 1:09 PM
If you think of abortion as a matter of freedom, consider the alternative perspective ,wherein abortion is considered unnecessary murder.