The End of Roe v Wade part 2

Alright, part 2! A lot has happened since part 1 came out last week so we have a lot of ground to cover today! Please read part 1 if you haven’t already to make sure you are up to speed since I will be referencing some things from the last post, building off ideas from the last post, and also working off of that same framework. Once again I have compiled as much information as possible from studies and scientific resources, and as few journalistic resources as possible. I have also used the exact laws and things that have come out. It’s not fear-mongering when you can read the exact language in the proposed law itself. Let’s get into it, shall we?

Abortion bans are total bans: This one is one that has caused a lot of grief and brought up a lot of emotions on both sides of the aisle once it was explained what the total abortion bans would look like. Some states have said they would still allow abortions in certain circumstances, but many have said they would have a complete ban on the practice as a whole, even if the pregnant person’s life is at stake. The best example of this is Missouri’s law, which expressly uses the language of ectopic pregnancy to say that it would not be allowed. The Hill reported that this law bans ectopic pregnancy, as well as any other later-term abortion needed to save the life of the pregnant person, or the life of the second baby if there were twins involved. A lot of people want to get mad about late-term abortions but it needs to be reminded that people who are pregnant and carry the baby all the way to viability are not suddenly changing their minds about having the child; their lives become endangered, the baby has massive complications or had died, or any other life-threatening things that can occur and the parent must then make a hard call. People are not getting late-term abortions because they no longer want the pregnancy.

The other side of this coin is that Missouri, and other states like Louisiana and Tennessee, have included ectopic pregnancies in these total abortion ban laws. This is a massive problem. For starters, ectopic pregnancies occur in about 1 in every 50 pregnancies and they occur most often in the fallopian tube (Healthline). For those who are unaware of what an ectopic pregnancy is, it is when a fertilized egg implants itself somewhere other than the uterus. A fertilized egg cannot grow anywhere but the uterus. This kind of pregnancy is never viable. Truly never viable and will never become viable. If it is not removed in a timely manner the person who is pregnant with this ectopic pregnancy will die. There is no survival rate if this fetus is just left in a space where it does not belong. It will grow and get worse until the pregnant person dies (Healthline). This is incredibly frustrating since a person cannot do anything about this and there is no way to make sure this doesn’t happen. This is a death sentence for pregnant people.

Miscarriages will (and already are)be investigated: 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Sometimes it is so early in a pregnancy that the pregnant person may not even know and think they have gotten their period, other times it is far enough along that the person is in pain and has to get a procedure to have the tissue and sac removed (Hello Clue). There have already been a few cases of people investigated to see if they had a miscarriage or an abortion (PEW) and many of the states with trigger laws on the books have included language in them to allow them to legally investigate when a person miscarries. This is also going to become dangerous because pregnant people are going to be less likely to seek medical care during a miscarriage for fear of being accused of abortion or having to be investigated. This will lead to more complications and more maternal death. As always, these are issues that will disproportionately affect low-income communities which more often than not affect people of color. White people with money and the privilege to seek out this care will always have the option to do so and the ability to get legal representation if need be, whereas low-income communities will suffer and not have access to the same assistance.

Part of the reason miscarriages will be criminalized and investigated is because if a person needs medical assistance in removing the excess tissue from the miscarriage, the methods that must be used are the same methods used in abortion. The only real difference is the reason behind the use of these procedures. This is also an issue because there are really no other safe or approved methods to help a person going through a miscarriage. There is also a chance that the person doesn’t know they are miscarrying until they go in for a checkup and there is no heartbeat. So then this would be forcing the patient to wait to start miscarrying and being forced to go through with it on their own(NPR). Many people who want and planned for pregnancy end up having at least one miscarriage. So laws like these are effectively punishing people for the baby they wanted. Does that not make any sense to anyone else?

Access to birth control is being threatened in many states: Many of the same states creating trigger laws about abortion have also put into the laws that birth control would also become an issue. Several states have said they would not allow it. The Guttmacher Institute has several resources on all the various ways it could be impacted but here are a few of the big ways this will become an issue. For states that would not outlaw birth control, the ability for it to be freely provided under the Care Act would go away. So for those who are uninsured, or have poor health insurance, birth control would be unaffordable. Certain forms of birth control do not work for everyone; I personally cannot take the pill without having terrible side effects but having an IUD has worked out very well for me. In certain states, getting an IUD would be a crime and only the pill would be available. Some states are getting rid of birth control together so then the only defense against pregnancy would be a condom, which is not always worn and can actually be a tool in domestic violence and sexual assault situations. Condoms can have holes poked in them and be slipped off when the other person believes a condom is being worn (Guttmacher). Birth control is also not just used for preventing pregnancy; it is also used for a whole host of health issues that people with a uterus have no other means to treat. Once again, I personally use my IUD to help with endometriosis symptoms first and foremost. It helps with pain levels and period frequency which makes my life more bearable. What will happen to so many people who don’t just use it to prevent pregnancy?

The other part here is that it has been proven multiple times that access to birth control and comprehensive sex education is what actually leads to a lower abortion rate, not abortion bans. A study by investigators at Washington University reports that providing birth control to people at no cost substantially reduces unplanned pregnancies and cuts abortion rates by 62 to 78 percent (BJC). That cuts the abortion rate down by more than half. Governments trying to take away access to birth control are simply exercising control and not pro-life concerns. Comprehensive sex education also aids in this at the high school level by actually giving kids information. Teen pregnancy is one of the biggest contributors to abortions and by actually giving teenagers safe and reliable information, the abortion rate would once again be lowered (ACLU). People from all walks of life for all reasons need abortions, so why not cut that percentage down by actually giving people the education and tools they need to succeed? This also goes with emergency contraception (the morning after pill) which is not an abortion pill, but rather a safety system that people can use when their other methods have failed. MSI has a great breakdown I have linked with the sources down below on the actual medication breakdown of how these two pills are different.

When Roe v Wade is overturned so is the right to privacy: This opens up the doors for gay marriage to be repealed, interracial marriage to be repealed, and anti-sodomy laws to be put into effect. This is on top of all of the anti-trans laws coming into play already and these things are all based on the idea that with no more right to privacy, the government will have the ability to regulate the private lives of its citizens. This is one thing that people seem to be the fuzziest on so I am going to do my best to sum it up. When the draft opinion that SCOTUS was going to overturn Roe v Wade when it comes to the final vote, the main reason Justice Alito pointed to was that there was nothing in the constitution that points to this being a protected right. Bodily autonomy is not guaranteed under the constitution and we let it in with the amendment of Roe v Wade. With Roe v Wade coming into being, it focused on bodily autonomy, but also on the fact that a person had the right to privacy where their health and certain choices were concerned, like who they marry, who they have sex with, and also protect a person’s medical info from being given to just anyone when HIPPA was enacted. HIPPA was only enacted in 1996, and since it is a relatively new policy, this makes it easy to repeal. So with no privacy guaranteed, the government would be able to get into any of your business that you deem private (Politico). They are also using this overturn to take away gender-affirming care to children, and some states have even classified it as child abuse.

The other part of this that has nothing to do with medical care, is that anti-sodomy laws are already being introduced which would criminalize all anal and oral sex acts. Now straight couples partake in these activities too, but they would mainly be to deter non-heterosexual couples. So far it seems like these laws would be enforced by the public as Texas tried to do with the abortion ban (ACLU 2). With the medical care laws, things will be easy to track once privacy laws are gone, but these kinds of laws will rely on bigoted people to tell on their neighbors.

Pain in a fetus does not happen until 24-25 weeks: One of the biggest arguments is that a fetus can feel pain once its heartbeat is detected, but after many many studies, BMJ (a medical journal) has concluded that a fetus cannot feel pain until 24 weeks due to the fact that the cortex and intact thalamocortical tracts are necessary for pain experience, which do not develop until 24 weeks or later. Once again it is worth it to note that people do not get all the way to the end of the second trimester or early third trimester to have an abortion simply because they do not want children. If abortion is performed later it is due to extreme maternal health issues or defects in the fetus that are causing the pregnant person life-threatening complications. People are not getting that far into pregnancy to just casually change their minds. To reiterate, these laws also stop a pregnant person from getting an ectopic pregnancy removed or any other pregnancy complication removed that would kill the pregnant person.

Corpses are not allowed to have their organs taken or used even if it would save someone’s life: There is an idea of The Right to Posthumous Bodily Integrity (under sources of the same name) that makes sure that a dead person’s wishes are met to the best of the family and medical professionals ability. This means that if a person is not an organ donor, the hospital cannot take that person’s organs even if the person has a healthy liver and someone in the hospital needs that liver to live. That is illegal. That takes away the person’s integrity and goes against their wishes. So by overturning Roe v Wade, people who get pregnant will now have less say over what happens to their bodies than dead bodies that are no longer sentient.

Risk of death is higher for pregnant people in domestic violence situations: When a person becomes pregnant when living in a domestic violence relationship, their chances of experiencing death go up exponentially. Domestic violence kills pregnant people more than any other reason (VAWnet). This may be a reason a person chooses to get an abortion. A common abuse tactic is to poke holes in condoms so that the partner becomes pregnant and is then “trapped” with the abuser and has a harder time leaving. Abuse often escalates when the victim is trying to leave or when they become pregnant because pregnancy will result in a baby which will then result in the abuser getting less time with the victim. Then with states making it much harder to get access to birth control, this is perpetuating abuse and letting more victims die at the hands of their abusers. If people cannot get abortions in these situations, then they will certainly die whether while pregnant or shortly after the baby is born. Laws like this also give more power to the abusers and less to the victims, but since about 4,000 women die each year from domestic violence, it’s no surprise it is not taken seriously. It’s a “women’s” issue (Domestic Abuse Shelter Inc).

Freedom OF religion allows people to practice religion as they see fit, but also people to have freedom FROM religion: Last but not least, this is a big reason Roe v Wade should not be overturned and that is that the Christian Right is leading the charge against pro-choice movements because of their religious beliefs and the idea that it is morally wrong. Freedom of religion allows certain protections, but it does not allow a religious person to force their beliefs on others or to make their beliefs law, simply based on those beliefs. We are also supposed to have a separation of church and state which means that laws can’t be passed for religious reasons. If a person does not prescribe to the religion, why should they be forced to live with those laws? A religious person has a choice to abstain from something, like an abortion, whereas with these laws going into effect the majority who are not religious no longer have a choice.

Thank you for making it through this post, and the first one. I will be back to posting more regular fashion and lifestyle content, but as this continues to develop I will also be continuing to update you all. See you next week!

Madey

Sources:

Leaked Politico Draft Opinion