Injustices Of Abortions

“I am an 17 year old mixed woman who was in an unhappy relationship with horrible mental health and one day took a test and found out I was pregnant. After taking time to comprehend what was going on, I decided the only choice I had was to get an abortion due to my mental health and my safety. The day after my procedure, I turned on the news and saw Roe v. Wade was overturned, and I cried for all these women who were no longer able to make the choice I just made. To this day if I had a child at 17 I would most likely have given him or her up for adoption or not be here today to suicidal thoughts.”-Anonymous Personal Anecdote.

Abortion rights matter because it could be a decision of life or death. Those who are making the decision to take away a women's right to make a choice for her own safety and life should not be at the hands of someone who is not pregnant who has no correlation to the matter. This is taking away from something women had to fight for 59 years ago. This doesn't just affect women but also affects families, relationships, and health. Abortions are necessary in healthcare and with the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, quality healthcare is being threatened. Abortions are needed for the physical and mental health of a pregnant person and everyone should have access to safe abortions. This overturn also disproportionately affects several categories of people, for instance women of color, members of the military and minors. Abortions are already physically strenuous but now people will seek unsafe options if they don’t have access to safe abortions. "Whether there are medical complications or not, young women may face negative psychological and social consequences after abortion. They may feel remorse or guilt, or they may encounter negative reactions from peers, family, providers or society'. Not only does this overturn affect physical health but also mental health, “Women with unwanted pregnancies had 1.42 greater odds (95% CI = 1.07, 1.88) of having a depressive episode than did women who had planned pregnancies”. Women should have the rights to their own bodies and decide what’s best for them and their mental/physical health. Women of color are feeling harsher effects from this overturn, women of color receive on average more abortions than white women, “The higher rate of abortion among women of colour is mainly due to a higher rate of unintended pregnancies. Women of colour are already also impacted by poverty and lack of proper healthcare. Many studies have found that women in states where abortion restrictions have already been implemented often have to travel across state lines to access abortion services. Women of colour receive worse healthcare partly because of large disparities in health insurance coverage”. Minors are also still humans and can still get pregnant so why shouldn’t they have the same rights that other humans do? The mature minor rule states that minors that are determined to be mature enough can have some power over their medical treatment, “In fact, less than one-fifth of the states (8) have a broad mature minor exception to the standard requirement of parental consent. The remainder have no exception at all (34), have significantly narrower or conditioned versions (6), or permit minors of any age to consent to treatment in all or specific circumstances”. It may seem like minors have options however they are very limited and only under certain circumstances. Members of the military are also severely affected by this overturn. In the U.S. military, many service members deployed are not allowed access to contraceptives or abortion unless the woman’s life is in danger. This is problematic due to the highly reported accounts of sexual assault within the U.S. military. In 2020, Vanessa Guillen disappeared on April 22nd. Before she disappeared, she had been telling her family about the sexual abuse she experienced. Women are experiencing high percentages of sexual assault, which could lead to unwanted pregnancy, and yet don’t have a lot of resources to help combat this situation. Roe v. Wade is… was an important case that led to women having autonomy over their own bodies. It’s critical that we take steps within the local, state and national government to get back federal abortion rights. If YOU are pregnant, YOU should have the choice to do what is best for you.