The End of Roe v Wade

The United States seems poised to go against a global trend of loosening abortion restrictions with both Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court and President Trump’s appointment of a replacement imminent.

Ireland rose up just two months ago to support a referendum to overturn a 1983 constitutional amendment that outlawed abortion. Last month, a bill to decriminalize abortion in Argentina passed the lower chamber of Congress and is under debate in the Senate. While activists in these and other countries celebrate their hard-won victories, women’s rights advocates in the U.S. are understandably worried.

Though more than 60 percent of the U.S. public expressed in recent polls the desire that Roe v. Wade remain intact, those in power are bent on ending access to abortion completely, even after many states have already restricted access out of reach for many people and the Hyde Amendment continues to keep abortion completely out of reach for those on Medicaid. Should Roe v. Wade be overturned, and many experts believe that it will be, an official promise of the Trump administration will be fulfilled.

It’s important to remember, however, that a change in the law will not change the need for abortion. A change to legal abortion access in the United States will not change the number of pregnancies that occur. It will not end rape or magically create extra money for struggling families. It will not improve access to or efficacy of birth control or promote accurate, comprehensive sexual education. It will not take away people’s right to bodily autonomy. The only thing that it WILL cause is an increase in the number of women who die. This has been shown through countless studies of countries where abortion is illegal, including pre-Roe United States.

To know our own history and the history of other countries in this way and to still push forward with efforts to restrict abortion, the Trump administration shows clearly that they are not advocating for “life” but for control of women’s bodies, namely those of the poor and marginalized. The terror of such laws increases exponentially when one realizes another truth: restrictions to access always spare the wealthy. A plane ticket to a more forward-thinking state or country is always within reach for well-off Americans.

Though the future we face is bleak, there will always be those willing to risk everything to help; there will be those fighting in court and marching in the street; there will be those funding abortion and helping plan secret trips, opening their homes to strangers in need. Legislators know that this path is paved with the lives of women, and they simply do not care to extend the “sanctity of life” from embryos and fetuses to the people who carry them.

Women Help Women believes that all people should have access to medically and scientifically accurate information surrounding all aspects of abortion and contraception and believes women should have agency over their own reproductive choices. Our organization provides accurate information about what exactly a medical abortion with pills is, the pills’ effectiveness, how to use the pills, and what to expect after using abortion pills. If you are pregnant and do not want to be, get in touch with us online at www.womenhelp.org or by email at info@womenhelp.org.