What Does The Overturning Of Roe v. Wade Mean For The Women Of America?
It was in 1973 when the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade. At a small glance, it means pregnant women who were entitled to an abortion in the primary first three months while allowing restrictions in the second and third trimesters.
On June 24, the landmark women’s rights ruling was overturned, removing abortion as a constitutional right and instead putting its legality in the hands of individual states, enabling bans earlier than 12 weeks. So what does this mean for US women?
Let’s see first what is roe v wade law.
What Is Roe v. Wade Law?
Roe v. wade law is a game-changer law related to women’s rights and society’s involvement.
The case of Roe v. Wade famously led to the Supreme court on abortion rights. Which incident is linked with the law? Jane Roe, an unmarried pregnant woman, filed a case for herself to change the abortion law in Texas.
One texas doctor is also joining the Roe; lawsuit. The arguments on the state’s abortion law. They are claiming that the state’s abortion law is pretty vague for doctors to follow. At that time abortion was illegal in Texas unless the procedure was done to save the life of the mother. At that time abortion was counted as a crime due to violating the rule and the status.
According To The Roe v. Wade statement, the supreme court is taking two major decisions.
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decided two important things:
- Right to privacy protection whether the person wants to go for the abortion or not.
- Abortion right is not fully absolute. It is a balance against the government’s interest.
- But this is not all. This is also a matter of protecting public health.
Who Gets Abortions?
According to the CDC, almost 630,000 abortions were performed in the US in 2019, which also states that 92.8% occur during the first trimester.
After the roe v. wade law, these are the case scenarios of the present time of the abortion.
Most women seeking abortion are unmarried, although they may be living with a partner at the time. Furthermore, most are in their twenties, though around one in ten are teenagers.
Roughly 60% of women having abortions had also given birth before, while almost 60% had never had an abortion. What happens if roe v wade is overturned? Here are the stories which are linked with the cause of the abortion bans.
Abortion Bans
International women’s rights supporters reacted with dismay at the news – even far-away abortion clinic Sydney providers voiced their concerns.
Now, abortion is banned in at least ten states following the Supreme Court’s decision to throw out Roe v. Wade, and another four states now ban abortion at six weeks – before most know they are pregnant.
More than 20 states are moving towards further abortion restrictions; some intend to ban terminations from conception, while others plan to allow procedures up to six or more weeks. Currently, all states allow abortion to save the mother’s life, with some granting in cases of incest or rape.
How Are Women Affected?
Around 40 million women of childbearing age live in states where abortion access is threatened, according to the Guttmacher Institute – a research organization supporting abortion rights. As such, women’s reproductive health is at risk.
The World Health Organization (WHO) claims around 25 million unsafe abortions occur annually and that restricting abortions does not reduce numbers; it only makes women and girls seek dangerous options.
Also, only one in four abortions are safe in countries with limited access, compared to almost nine in ten where the procedure is widely accessible. During the sessions of roe v. wade, the lawyers also argued about the health of the women.
Denial Of Healthcare
Restricted terminations mean some may be denied lifesaving treatment should pregnancy complications occur.
This happened in Ireland in 2012 to a woman named Savita Halappanavar, who miscarried during the seventeenth week of pregnancy.
Despite needing a termination to save her life, doctors denied her an abortion because it was illegal. Sadly, she passed away of sepsis, a preventable blood infection she would not have endured had medical personnel given her the procedure.
Similarly, ectopic pregnancies in which an embryo grows outside the uterus can threaten the woman’s life, as can miss miscarriages wherein a dead fetus remains inside the womb. Abortion is the treatment for both cases; however, overturning Roe v. Wade could brand this treatment illegal in some states.
Prosecutions
Many state laws don’t target women who seek abortions, but some do; a 26-year-old Texan woman, Lizette Herrera, was charged with murder for allegedly inducing a miscarriage, although public outrage led to her release without charges.
According to the Mayo Clinic, 10 to 20% of pregnant women suffer a miscarriage, and the CDC estimates one in 160 pregnancies results in stillbirth. During roe v. wade, these ratios are not also getting unnoticed.
In states where abortion is criminalized, cases like these could lead to prosecution. Still, most have said they won’t prosecute mothers for termination attempts, instead reserving penalties for abortion providers and others helping women access the procedure.
Wrapping It Up:
Before roe v. wade, abortion was entirely banned in the country.
But after the roe v. wade law, the abortion law is made a different dimension. Abortion is alos a matter of women’s rights.
Before the law, even the mother does not have the right to decide the fate of the fetus. Right and wrong are entirely different perspectives. But now, women have the right to decide the life of their fetus, and it also involves the freedom of the women.
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