Roe v. Wade (and other important rights)

    Given the recent Dobbs v. Jackson case, I think most if not all of us have heard some about the original Roe v. Wade decision and about arguments surrounding abortion rights in general. What I hadn’t known before was how far back the fight for abortion stretched. As Ms. Slater covered the history of reproductive rights, I couldn’t help my fascination, especially surrounding the midwives to doctor transition: before doctors were popularized, midwives had controlled the childbirth scene, as well as abortion. The theories as to why abortion had originally been banned—primarily that doctors wanted to discredit midwives as medical practitioners—are absurd. I can’t imagine how frustrated I would be, especially with how dangerous childbirth could be, if I was unable to get an abortion, and for such a reason as that! It’s somewhat scary to think that people—especially, but not limited to, men—have been trying to control our bodies in the same way that men from hundreds of years ago had tried to control us. As Ms. Slater mentioned in our very first class, the nation seems to be regressing back to certain previous states slowly, year after year… I feel it’s important to recognize that.

As I was listening to Ms. Slater’s lecture, I kept thinking back to the reading we had done and how public opinion has fluctuated so much over the years. Something that kept coming to mind was the emphasis that Roe v. Wade put on privacy. Through analysis on the amendments, the court had decided that the constitution had implied the right to privacy, which can apply to this discussion. A woman should have the right to privacy, it said, which was a large piece in explaining the problem with ban on abortion. (Among other reasons were viability and women's health concerns). In comparison, the Dobbs v. Jackson case seems to have discredited this notion because it’s not explicitly stated in the constitution. The strict vs. lenient interpretations of the constitution is a whole debate on its own, but the part that worries me the most is the implication that, via Dobbs v. Jackson, citizens aren’t granted the right to privacy… As people in a country that promotes its freedom and liberty as leading values, I think that the lack of legal privacy is both extremely hypocritical and thoroughly concerning, not even from just a women’s rights standpoint, but in the country as a whole.

Now, as states start preventing abortions and the world turns slowly backwards, it seems, I’m increasingly grateful for the remaining rights I do have. As a person who theoretically has the capability to bear children, I am so glad that my state allows abortions; what with my age, and the assault statistics, and the general state of the world nowadays, being able to control what happens to my body is a privilege (I should hope in the future it won’t have to be a privilege) that I am incredibly grateful and lucky to have.