By Jaycie Doerr, WC Opinions Editor
No one thought after Row v. Wade in the 1970s that the right to women’s healthcare would be questioned. Yet in this very week, the Supreme Court decision concerning a Missouri Case would overturn the groundbreaking decision.
In a 5-4 vote, the Court voted in favor of the state’s rights to make their own abortion laws.
The opinion is written by Justice Alito and his argument is an outright sham. In the leaked decision, he outlines that abortion is not protected under the Constitution and is, therefore, a state’s rights issue. This is clearly wrong, the right to equal protection under the law is written clearly in the 14th Amendment and religious freedom is clearly stated in the First Amendment.
Now you may be wondering how abortion bans pertain to religious freedom. The only religion that outright bans abortion is Christianity. Meaning bans on abortion are a violation of religious freedom and repression of non-Christian Americans.
A large leap was taken when Colorado passed their Reproductive Health Equity Act protecting the reproductive rights of women.
The states that are passing abortion bans though, outnumber those passing laws protecting healthcare rights. Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana, all have passed bans that blatantly ignore the precedent. Many of these have no laws protecting abortion and have no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
Abortion bans will not stop abortions, they will stop safe abortions. When there is nothing holding back these laws, we will see an increase in teen pregnancy, single moms living off welfare, children living their whole lives in the foster care system, and back-ally abortions that will kill both the women and fetuses.
This decision is not pro-life, it is pro-men objectifying women. This decision has not been made in the best interest of the people, it does not even reflect the wants of the majority.
In a time when civil rights are being tested globally, the U.S. should be setting an example. Instead, we bicker amongst ourselves about whether women have a fundamental right to healthcare? Is this the nation of the free, or the nation of patriarchal oppression
