zoe podcast

The landmark decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973 recognized a woman's right to access safe and legal abortions, giving women autonomy over their bodies and reproductive choices. However, recent events have overturned this decision, putting women's lives at risk and undermining decades of progress in women's rights. Overturning Roe v. Wade leads to unsafe and illegal abortions, increases maternal mortality, and restricts access to reproductive care. It also affects victims of rape, reinforces patriarchal structures, and undermines gender equality. The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional and violates women's fundamental rights. It has profound implications for public health and safety and goes against the principles of equal protection. While there are arguments supporting the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the focus should be on protecting women's constitutional rights and ensuring their autonomy and equality. In the history of women's rights, Roe v. Wade is seen as a monumental milestone and as a symbol of progression towards gender equality and reproductive freedom in America. Despite this, recent events have overturned this landmark decision and caused a regression in the fight for women's rights. Roe v. Wade was implemented by the Supreme Court in 1973, and this law recognized a woman's right to access safe and legal abortions. Enforcing this law has allowed women to have autonomy over their bodies and reproductive choices. Before this law was passed, secret and unsafe abortions were being performed that endangered many lives. With this recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we go back to a time where women's lives are at risk due to not having access to safe or legal abortions. In June of 2022, the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization eliminated the federal right to abortion. After nearly 50 years of women gaining the equal right to safe and legal abortions and reproductive freedom, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision is an unconstitutional one. Overturning Roe v. Wade undermines decades of progress in women's rights and can negatively affect the health and well-being of millions of women in America. Overturning Roe v. Wade does not eliminate abortions, it just makes it so that women are going to resort to unsafe and illegal ways of terminating pregnancies, which can cause an increase in maternal mortality and morbidity. Overturning this law allows for abortion policies and reproductive rights to be up to the state. As of April 12, 2024, according to Guttmacher Institute, 14 states have a total abortion ban and 27 states have abortion bans based on gestational duration. Not only are women at risk of worsening and less access to reproductive care like abortions, the Plan B pill, and birth control, but women are also at risk when traveling to a state that has legalized abortions. Many women who live in a state where there is a total abortion ban look to other states to travel to in order to get this sometimes life-saving procedure. Besides the fact that some women have personal reasons for deciding to terminate their pregnancy, other women have to make this decision because it is a matter of life or death. For example, let's think about ectopic pregnancies. An ectopic pregnancy is one that cannot be carried to term because the fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus. This can cause life-threatening bleeding without treatment. When an ectopic pregnancy ruptures is when severe bleeding, infection, and even death can occur, and this becomes a medical emergency needed to be treated immediately. Grey's Anatomy Season 19, Episode 5 depicts this life-threatening issue very well in a case with a woman named Susan. Two doctors on the show, Miranda Bailey and Addison Montgomery, took the day off from working at the hospital to volunteer at a family planning center. While volunteering, the doctors get dispatched to pick up a woman named Susan who called in from across the state border. She's experiencing an ectopic pregnancy that has attached to her cesarean scar. This is a life-threatening situation, and since her doctors won't perform the necessary surgery because of the new abortion ban, Bailey and Addison go to pick her up and bring her to the clinic for help. While in the car, they get stuck in traffic. During the journey, Susan begins to bleed, and Addison has to try to help her with whatever materials they have in the car. Susan starts to bleed out while waiting for an ambulance, and while bleeding out, she talks about how her daughter is at home waiting for her birthday party. In an emotional ending, the two doctors try everything, including CPR, but Susan dies an unnecessary death on the side of the road. Susan ends up yelling at the paramedics and blames lawmakers for this woman's death. She says how they cannot be doctors when the hands they should be helping women are tied. Although this is a fictional situation, women across the country are having to travel to different states in order to receive the proper reproductive care, and sometimes the journey is too long. Abortion bans not only affect women with life-threatening medical emergencies, but also rape victims. In an article by Selina Simmons-Duffin published in NPR, researchers gauged that 64,565 pregnancies have been caused by rape in the 14 states where abortion is banned. Some states with total abortion bans have exceptions to rape victims. However, this requires victims to report to local authorities, which does not happen nearly as often as sexual assaults happen. Early sexual assaults can be very traumatic for victims, and with total abortion bans, victims could be reliving their assault all over again with this pregnancy. Overturning Roe v. Wade is an assault on women's autonomy and bodily integrity. It gives people who are anti-choice the power to tear away at reproductive rights through restrictive legislation. Some of this restrictive legislation includes mandatory waiting periods, biased counseling requirements, and trap laws, which are targeted regulation of abortion providers. These not only obstruct access to abortion, but also stigmatizes and shames women for exercising their constitutional rights. Taking away these reproductive rights has also caused a rollback of gender equality in this country. By taking away a woman's control over their own reproductive destinies, society creates the notion that women are vessels of reproduction and not autonomous people with agency and aspirations outside of motherhood. This is a regressive mindset that reinforces patriarchal structures. Reversing nearly five decades of recognizing a woman's constitutional right to choose and make personal decisions about their health not only has effects on women, but also medical and nursing education. Many basic policies, like reducing maternal mortality, promoting health equity, and protecting the patient-provider relationship will be undermined. The skills needed for pregnancy management and complications might not be seen as common as new nurses and doctors learn in a state that has abortion bans. Nurses should be educated and trained to work through a woman seeking prenatal care and having complicated pregnancies and unsafe abortion attempts. According to the World Health Organization, over 2.5 million unsafe abortions happen each year, and pregnancy-related complications make up about 8% of maternal deaths. Drinking toxic fluids, ingesting teratogenic or labor-inducing herbs, inflicting direct injury to the vagina or repeated striking of the abdomen are some ways in which women have resorted to abortion attempts now that their constitutional right has been taken away from them. Overturning Roe v. Wade shows a dangerous regression of women's rights in America, and the Dobbs v. Supreme Court decision to overturn this law is an unconstitutional one. This decision represents a direct assault on constitutional rights and legal principles that uphold the dignity, autonomy, and equality of women. Roe v. Wade is the recognition of women's fundamental rights to make decisions about their own bodies, including the right to terminate a pregnancy. Overturning this decision violates the constitutional principles of equal protection, since overturning this law denies women the same rights and freedoms other individuals have. There are profound implications for public health and safety, since overturning Roe v. Wade will lead to unsafe and illegal abortions. Each state with abortion bans now puts women's lives and well-being at risk. This reversal undermines the very foundations of our democratic system and constitutional order. Some individuals in America support the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Whether the reasoning behind their beliefs are religious or personal, there are many arguments as to why the overturning of this law should be supported. Pro-life advocates argue that people have a right to life, and people in this sense also include an unborn baby. People also believe that since it is wrong to intentionally kill a biological human being, it is wrong to kill a fetus, who is also a biological human being. Many people argue the fact that some women use abortions as a form of birth control by terminating a pregnancy for no reason other than they simply do not want the responsibility of having a baby. While I do not agree with women who get multiple abortions due to not having safe sex, there is so much more to Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court decision was all about giving women the constitutional right to safe and legal abortions and the right to make decisions about her own body. While people can make arguments about their personal beliefs about the abortion procedure itself, the only argument that should be made about overturning Roe v. Wade and stripping women everywhere of their constitutional rights to choose is that it is unconstitutional.