Protect Roe v. Wade I Will Duncan

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are not representative of Pulse Magazine, CCA, or SDUHSD, as a whole.

For the first time in history, there has been a major Supreme Court leaking. The Supreme Court is prone to secrecy and usually keeps quiet about its decision until the day the decision is released; however, in the matter of overturning Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s 98-page opinion was leaked to the public. Essentially, he deems the decision of Roe v. Wade to be unconstitutional and is in favor of overturning it. Similarly, many of the other justices share this view as the conservative-leaning justices hold a 6-3 supermajority in the court. Though only the opinion has been leaked, an official decision is allegedly going to be decided around the end of June. In the event that the decision of Roe v. Wade is overturned, the legality of abortion will be left to the states.

This means that in at least 22 states the right to abortion will likely be denied. It is predicted that blue states like California or New York will allow for abortions and people seeking them will likely travel across state boundaries to get one. However, for many people traveling hundreds of miles is not an option, limiting factors like their job or money can lead to the occurrence of unsafe abortions. Prior to Roe v. Wade, when abortion was illegal, many Americans obtained their abortions through back-alley clinics or self-administration, both options are incredibly unsafe and unclean, often leading to a high maternal mortality rate as well as the inability to get pregnant later in life.

In the Catholic faith and many other religions, it is believed that life starts at conception, however, one’s religion should not be pushed upon others and there must be a separation between church and state. In fact, the First Amendment does not allow for the establishment of religion and therefore the Christian views that America was founded on should not be used as evidence against abortion. Additionally, in America, the constitution guarantees equality between men and women, and by restricting women’s control over their own bodies a massive inequality is created. Despite men and women participating in the same act to create a baby, only one of them is guaranteed the economic and health risk should they carry out the pregnancy. By forcing women to sustain pregnancies that can inherently put them at risk, the issue of abortion is a matter of a woman's right to privacy and of equality. Men have the privilege of not being pregnant at any moment, so it is only just for women to have this opportunity as well. By overturning Roe v. Wade a greater divide between the sexes will occur, and being born a man will become even more of an advantage.

Though no decision has been made, it seems very likely that the decision will align with the opinion that Justice Alito and the other justices drafted. Not much can be done but I urge those with the ability to vote to use this privilege in Senate elections. The Senate is responsible for confirming the Supreme Court Justice nominees and is responsible for the current conservative majority in the court. By creating a democratic senate, democratic justices can be elected and rulings like Roe v. Wade can’t be overturned.