How will the overturning of Roe v. Wade impact women in America?
By Snigdha Garud
On the 24th of June 2022, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade. A shocking
decision, the ripples will be felt throughout the country for a long, long time. This
decision will not just change the fabric of abortion discussions in America; it has
the potential to affect other liberal rulings by the Court like same-sex marriage and
access to contraceptives according to a tweet by Justice Clarence Thomas.
Additionally, Roe v. Wade will also impact women’s rights in states where
abortion will be deemed illegal. But why should you care, especially if abortion is
not illegal across the country? Because in a nutshell, this overruling places
abortion laws in the hands of each state and eliminates federal protections of
abortion. Each discrete state can make their abortion laws as stringent as possible
as Oklahoma has already done; the state’s law now bans abortion at fertilization
and bans abortion after six weeks for exceptions (rape/incest cases). So, to put
things into perspective, Oklahoma and a few other red states like Ohio, Texas,
Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, all have abortion bans in place before a
woman even knows she is pregnant and contain no exceptions.
History
To start, let us explore the history behind Roe v. Wade. A landmark decision at the
time (1973), it “ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant
woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government
restriction” (Wikipedia). The plaintiff who filed the case in 1973 was Norma
McCorvey who was given the pseudonym Jane Roe to protect her privacy. It all
started when she sued Texas over the lack of a female-friendly abortion law.
Norma wanted to have an abortion, which was illegal in Texas unless childbirth
was life-threatening. Firstly, the case was heard in the District Court of Northern
Texas where the panel of judges ruled in her favor. The case progressed to the US
Court of Appeals 5th circuit, where it was joined with a few other abortion cases.
Because even though the District Court had recognized Norma’s right to have an
abortion, it had not issued an injunction prohibiting Texas from keeping such a
law. From there, the case was fast-tracked to the Supreme Court due to the urgency
of Norma’s pregnancy, where the vote was 7-2 in favor of Norma’s abortion. It ruled that while states could not restrict abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy (the first three months), some restrictions could be applied in subsequent trimesters. Nonetheless, it was a bold decision, one that was celebrated by pro-choice women across the country.
Modern-day ruling
Until the Supreme court issued a reversal of the trailblazing decision, abortion was
still federally legal. And while select red states had tried to curtail the practice like
Texas and Mississippi, an umbrella of federal protections still existed. However,
after the June 24th decision, the post Roe v. Wade world looks very different—and
unsurprising. One can argue that the decision was, in part, inevitable because of the conservative majority in the Supreme Court, as well as the draft leak around the
beginning of June. Three of the Supreme Court justices were appointed by Donald
Trump, and two justices had conservative leanings. In the end, the decision to
reverse Roe v. Wade was 5-4, with Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil
Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito leading the majority. Chief Justice
John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan led the minority
to keep Roe v. Wade. Concurrently, the Court voted 6-3 to support a Mississippi
abortion ban being challenged, with Chief Justice John Roberts voting to uphold
the ban.
Implications on abortion
Less than a month later, shocking news is already circulating. Recently, a ten-year-
old girl had to cross the Ohio state line into Indiana to get an abortion, after having
been raped by a 27-year-old man named Gerson Fuentes. Why couldn’t she get an
abortion in Ohio? Because as per the ‘heartbeat bill’ that caps all abortions
(including in rape/incest cases) before six weeks, the young girl had surpassed the
limit. According to Indiana officials, she was six weeks pregnant at the time of her
abortion. If this is not disturbing enough, many hospitals in Texas are turning away
pregnant patients with medical complications, out of fear for Texas’s rigid abortion
laws. As abortions are banned in Texas, medical professionals could face up to
$100,000 in fines and 10+ years in jail. Because even though medical abortions
remain legal in the state, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the exceptions. A
woman in Texas recently spoke out about having to carry her baby’s dead fetus for
two weeks after suffering a miscarriage. The procedure was the same procedure
used in abortion cases, and many physicians refused to perform it. Fortunately,
Stell ended up finding a provider; however, the question still arises: what if she
hadn’t? Carrying a dead fetus can result in a myriad of problems, including long-
term health concerns. Who would have been responsible if something had
happened to Stell?
College applications
And Roe v. Wade is not just impacting abortion; it is also impacting college
applications. No young woman wants to go to college in a state like Texas or Ohio,
where the abortion laws are the strictest in the country and contain no exceptions
for rape/incest. Personally, as a young woman who is a rising senior, I have had to
scratch my dream college—Rice University—off the list since it is located in
Texas and will have to re-evaluate my in-state options if a Republican governor is
elected in Pennsylvania. Heather Burke—a Georgia native—said her daughter
faced a similar dilemma. As Georgia has abortion bans after six weeks, her
daughter has been forced to look out-of-state. For the very first time, females are
not asking themselves where they want to go to college; they are asking themselves
where abortion is legal. Should this really be happening?
Menstruation and abortion
For millions of young women across the country who use period-tracking apps, a
new concern is cropping up: some apps may sell your period data, which may be
used against you if you ever seek an abortion illegally. Social media is flooded
posts urging girls to switch to hand-written period trackers, which is an incredibly
valid concern. In the future, text messages and location data could also be used
against you according to the Chief Technology Officer of Viszen Security, even if
abortion bans are currently only targeting medical providers and not patients. But
with everything that’s been happening, who’s to say that this data won’t be used
for nefarious reasons in the future? What if states with abortion bans do end up
prosecuting patients? One thing is certain: In this post-Roe v. Wade world that is
starting to resemble the Handmaid’s Tale, nothing is certain.
Resources used in the article
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/ 25/politics/oklahoma-abortion-ban-hb-4327-
signed-governor-stitt/index.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/states-6-week-abortion-ban-to-go-into-
effect-immediately-in-unorthodox-ruling/ar-AAZN5Gz
https://www.cnet.com/health/abortion-laws-in-every-state/
https://www.justia.com/constitutional-law/50-state-survey-on-abortion-laws/
https://www.thoughtco.com/roe-v-wade-abortion-rights-1779383
https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-could-pregnant-10-year-old-girl-get-
https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texas-hospitals-are-putting-pregnant-patients-at-
risk-by-denying-care-out-of-fear-of-abortion-laws-medical-group-says/
https://news.yahoo.com/college-shopping-students-query-abortion-
104601821.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/do-period-tracker-apps-put-your-
privacy-at-risk-post-roe-v-wade/ar-AAZyVb2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v._Wade
Resources used in the article
Planned Parenthood-
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion/considering-abortion/what-
facts-about-abortion-do-i-need-know
WIRED offers a great article about the types of abortion (surgical and medical), as
well as a great site (AbortionFinder) which sets up women with surgical abortion
providers across the country.
https://www.wired.com/story/guide-abortion-resources-post-roe-america/
OBOS (Our body Ourselves) also has great resources:
https://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book-excerpts/health-article/resources-for-
Another good resource: