It’s Our Bodies and It Should Always Be Our Choice

“It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives,” said Justice Samuel Alito in a leaked initial draft of the opinion of the supreme court on the overturning of Roe vs Wade. The overturning of the long held landmark case would mean that abortion rights–a person’s ability to seek any form of abortive services–would be susceptible to high restrictions or even a complete denial of access and banned based on state representatives ruling on abortions. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey [Planned Parenthood vs Casey, another groundbreaking abortion case] have enflamed debate and deepened division” stated Justice Samuel Alito in the initial draft. 

In the time since the announcement, many states and people have begun addressing the potential change. Thirteen states – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, and Utah – have passed so called ‘trigger laws’ which would immediately ban abortion in the state upon Roe vs Wade overturning. Beyond banning, protests have erupted in cities all across the United States in opposition of the potential overturning and support of abortion rights. From abortion-safe havens like Illinois to even the front steps of the supreme court, Americans everywhere are expressing their feelings for and against the potential overturn, for it is an issue that affects us all. States sanctioning the banning of abortion have tried to deviate the conversation as the politics of “taking a life,” but the right to an abortion free of restrictions and hurdles is not about politics or religious beliefs, but rather about the right to govern one’s self. Abortion rights are a matter of whether people have a right to their own bodies or whether the state does.

The banning of abortion has long been thought to be a controversial topic in the United States. Many believe that the subject has always been a major point of contention and political discourse. But this argument holds false. Contrary to popular belief, for much of United States history, abortion has not been as criminalized and controversial as it is today. As shared in a New York Times article “for most of the first 100 years of American history, early abortions — before fetal ‘quickening’ (generally defined as the moment when the fetus’s movements can be detected) — were not illegal. For decades after the founding of the United States, common law did not regulate abortion, or even recognize that abortion was happening at that early stage.” 

Abortion history, when recounted correctly, tells a story of decriminalized abortions. “That is because common law did not even acknowledge a fetus as existing separately from a pregnant woman” said American legal historian Mary Ziegler.  Furthermore, history has gone beyond favoring the rule of state, but rather supporting the rights of women and their right to autonomy. “Regulation relied on women’s own experience, since they were the ones who would know when ‘quickening’ occurred,” said American medicine, public health, women, gender and sexuality historian Leslie J. Reagan.  

The history of abortion in this country has told the story that many people today are fighting for. Abortive services haven’t been solely regulated by state and access to abortion has been the right of birthing bodies. It wasn’t until 1827 in the state of Illinois that abortion began to be criminalizing “pre-quickening,” with New York following suit in 1829 by making abortion “pre-quickening” a felony. The history of abortion in this country is important to shaping the political context of abortion today. But no matter what is or what was, what abortion should be in this country has become increasingly clear. 

Women with the ability to carry children should have the right to govern their own bodies. No matter if it’s due to consensual sex or a nonconsensual encounter. No matter if it’s due to a teen mishap or a planned pregnancy that becomes a change of heart. No matter if the person is healthy or would face health complications carrying a child, it should always be the choice of the person to govern how their body is used. Beyond women with the ability to become pregnant, the nuance of this conversation expands to all birthing folk, including those in the LGBTQ + community. 

The issue of abortion restrictions don’t just affect cis-het communities but communities of all shapes and forms, such as the LGBTQ+ community. Trans men with the ability to carry children deserve the option and have the right to say what they want to do with their bodies and what they don’t. With an overturning of Roe vs Wade, birthing folk of all genders will be impacted, if not at the same level as cis-het communities, then more being marginalized. For the overturning of Roe vs Wade would not only cause a huge blow to abortion rights in this country, but would also greatly affect marginalized communities. 

Poor folk, folk with disabilities, and many communities of color who already experience lack of resources and systemic oppression will be left even more vulnerable by the loss of abortion access. The right to privacy and the ability to receive an abortion at local clinics are what many marginalized communities rely on to receive safe abortion services. But if this access and these resources are taken away, it is these communities that will suffer the most, not those of privileged communities who can find safe ways around new bans on abortion. 

Abortion access–whether Black or white, poor or rich, cis-het or LGBTQ+ and so on–is an issue that affects us all. It is not a conversation of a state’s ability to govern, but truly a matter of what we believe in as a people, and that should be the right to autonomy. The right to say both no and yes, the right to choose, and this right to choose is free of cost. For it does not foster pressure but rather places the keys of agency in the hands of those who need it and enables them to decide their own futures and lives. Abortion rights are human rights, for these are our bodies and it should always be our choice to say what happens with them and what doesn’t.