The fact that it is 2022 and we as a society as still discussing reproductive health access is beyond me. 

A Supreme Court of the United States draft majority opinion leaked to Politico was published May 2, showing the court’s plan to overturn Roe v. Wade. The court confirmed on Tuesday that the leak is authentic, but no decision is finalized. 

If put into place, the 1973 federal constitutional right to protect pregnant individuals’ choice toward abortion would vanish and the decision would be up to state’s legislators to outlaw abortion in areas that have laws against it. 

The United States documented 630,000 legal abortions in 2019, according to a Statista report. Statista additionally reported that the age bracket of 20-24 was the highest accounting group to seek healthcare with 19 treatments per 1000 women.

That is the exact age group a large majority of The Chronicle’s readers fall within. Myself included.  

There is no reason why individuals should be stripped away of their right to control their body autonomy. As a woman myself, my blood is boiling and I am nervous about how our country will proceed if the decision is confirmed. 

Maybe you agree with this decision. Quite possibly, maybe you ask yourself: “Why shouldn’t I celebrate the end of Roe v. Wade?” 

The answer is simple. By commemorating the impending decision, you are backing the various other problems served with denying reproductive rights. 

You can’t ban abortion, you can only ban safe abortion 

Complications from unsafe abortions could result in infection, incomplete abortions, hemorrhaging, uterine perforation and damage to the genital tract or internal organs, according to the World Heath Organization. 

While many might think voiding abortion will stop it entirely, it is important to highlight that it will only vanish legal procedures. 

In a March 2022 Guttmacher Institute report, researchers found that abortion rates are similar in both countries where abortion is restricted and those where it’s legal. 

“In countries that restrict abortion, the percentage of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion has increased during the past 30 years, from 36% in 1990–1994 to 50% in 2015–2019,” the researchers wrote. 

By placing a cap on what can and can’t be performed for reproductive care, it is important to know that these procedures will still happen. 

If history from other countries shows what will happen, then why must America put millions of lives in danger?  

You are praising the likely deaths of countless pregnant individuals 

If legalized abortion disappears and pregnant individuals are forced to have unsafe ones, then it’s no surprise that people will get hurt and people will die. 

According to a 2009 study published in the National Library of Medicine, roughly 68,000 women die of unsafe abortions annually and of those who survive, five million will continue to suffer long-term health complications. 

In addition to blunt force trauma, many pregnant individuals who face restrictive reproductive laws are given no choice but to enter harm’s way.

“Methods of unsafe abortion include drinking toxic fluids such as turpentine, bleach, or drinkable concoctions mixed with livestock manure,” the researchers wrote. “Other methods involve inflicting direct injury to the vagina or elsewhere—for example, inserting herbal preparations into the vagina or cervix; placing a foreign body such as a twig, coat hanger, or chicken bone into the uterus; or placing inappropriate medication into the vagina or rectum.”

The thought of individuals putting themselves through such trauma because of poorly constructed laws is sickening. We are not living in the times before Roe v. Wade passed. These rights are non-negotiable. 

The blood of pregnant people who fall ill from compromises will be on the hands of the government officials who choose such inhumane rulings. 

You are forcing victims of sexual assault to see through their pregnancy 

Rape in itself takes a toll on the victim, regardless of the situation. If the ruling is implemented, victims won’t have the chance to free themselves of their rapist and are forced to carry the child.

On average, there are roughly 463,634 victims (ages 12 and older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States according to statistics by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. 

Regardless of the victim’s age, they would have to live with knowing their child was the product of someone who took advantage of them. Maybe the victim is okay with that, but maybe they aren’t.

Knowing these pregnancies occur unwanted and unwillingly and then further forcing that victim to keep that child is inhumane. It almost feels as if the government just wants a breeding system. 

For the sake of the victims and their future, I hope this decision is not final. It isn’t the Supreme Court’s place to make that decision, ever. 

You are celebrating pregnant individuals carrying nonviable pregnancies to term

According to the National Library of Medicine, pregnancy is determined viable or nonviable based on if the fetus has any chance of living, under normal circumstances, outside the uterus. This is found during an ultrasound by the pregnant individual’s doctor. 

If the Supreme Court’s ruling stands, pregnant individuals who are told this devastating news about their child will be forced to continue their pregnancy and deliver the fetus — knowing there is no chance for their baby to live. 

While the emotional baggage will differ for everyone who tackles this issue, it boils down to giving them the choice. If they already lost their pregnancy, why force them to hold onto it physically? 

While these main points do not cover the entire issue, it serves as strong reasons why this ruling will set society further back than it has ever been. 

Regardless of your status to ever have a child or not, this decision affects you. Think of your mother, sister, aunt, partner or friend. Think of the future of this country and how this decision will put lives in danger.

I am a woman and deserve a say in my reproductive rights. So do the thousands of other individuals who can bear children. Stop treating us like we’re just a womb.