We are in a historically important time in the United States, and in a time that is seen as a rollback in many progressive ideas and achievements. One especially impactful, most talked about in the U.S., in many day-to-day conversations, that has been a recurring topic for many activists, is controversial for many is abortion. This is a topic that is not unique to a specific group, but is nationwide, that is weaponized in politics and has been a central idea debated on in the previous elections. It has been used as a way to gain followers and the votes of people, but all they are really doing is hurting the women, taking away their rights, and policing their bodies. Many people identify with the phrase “pro-choice” or “pro-life”, but were these phrases ever even about the life of the fetus or embryo? These phrases imply that women should have the choice, but in reality they should have the right, and the idea that they have the choice only goes to show how privilege, systematic racism, and the health industry are factors into why women even have that choice. Abortion is controversial to many because they argue about life starting at conception, when a baby is considered human, ect ; but they’re missing the biggest point in the topic of abortion, which is the women themselves. Women should have the right to an abortion, accessibility to one, reproductive healthcare, and have their rights protected. We must change the government to give women their due rights, which includes the right to an abortion, and anyone who thinks differently is simply an anti-women misogynist.
A danger to many women came into place when they overturned Roe V. Wade on June 24, 2022. A wide misinterpretation about Roe V. Wade is that it was a law overruled or overturned, but it was a judicial ruling which was made by the supreme court that established the right to an abortion falls under the 14th amendment under due process clause. This meant a woman’s right to privacy of whether she wanted to have an abortion and banning abortion was restricting a woman’s liberty, which is exactly what they did that June in 2022. But why did this get overturned in 2022, if the United States is so progressive, seen by many as a good country in the world, and always evolving? It is simple as patriarchy, a woman’s body, value, and meaning is less than a man’s body. But this isn’t for the life of an unborn baby, embryo, fetus, or clump of cells, it is to strip away rights from those women who can bear children. Abortion rights are directly women’s rights and part of reproductive justice. Pro choice or pro life are neither pro-women, and if they are they aren’t inclusive to all women. Pro choice is to say people should have the choice or option of having an abortion, but this choice is only in place for those who have the privileges to have those choices (Price). But a choice for abortion isn’t enough if you’re someone with insurance that doesn’t cover abortion, and no access to a local free clinic, where you have to go through with the pregnancy of an unwanted baby because you need to pay for rent rather than pay for an abortion. Now society and the government must reflect on why they should force someone who can’t even afford an abortion go through with having a baby. Women should have the right to an abortion, the option to even have children, and to raise those children(Price). Many use their religion to justify their reason to take away the rights of women, that because life begins at conception, a woman has the right to her body but not of the body within her, and god put that baby there for a reason. But why would we use religion and religious books to influence laws and the government when the church and state should be separated. Saying a woman shouldn’t abort a clump of cells because there is a life and that life is so precious it MUST be more precious and valuable than the actual living human being who is actually the one who is pregnant.
