Roe v. Wade

Amidst a series of blows to reproductive rights in the U.S. following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, the midterm elections yielded a much-needed victory for sexual and reproductive health in Michigan. Proposal Three, a statewide proposal codifying the right to abortion in the Michigan Constitution, passed on November 8th by a 13-point margin. This victory was a critical one in Michigan, which is historically known as a swing state, and where the fate of abortion rights in light of the Supreme Court decision remained unclear. Temporary legal action prevented the state’s 1931 abortion ban from going into effect following the Dobbs decision. The breakdown of Michigan votes in favor of Proposal Three offers compelling insights into the profile of Michigan voters. A Michigan Advance article found that Michigan voters living in abortion deserts played a critical role in passing the proposal, with several northern counties demonstrating overwhelming support. It is not uncommon for Michigan residents living in the Upper Peninsula to...

Pro-choice vs Pro-life? The conversation surrounding reproductive health has been trampled by the debate between two movements. It has been obscured by debates of when life begins. It has been convoluted with religious beliefs, political beliefs, and complex obscurities that the people have failed to realize the real focus of this discussion: women and their reproductive freedom. With the overturning of Roe vs Wade, the discussion of reproductive rights and women’s rights have become more urgent than ever. This is not a matter of women’s rights but human rights. Due to the constitutional right to an abortion granted by Roe vs Wade, women have had the law the federal government enabling the freedom to reproductive care but stripping this basic human right to healthcare puts them in more dangerous situations than ever [2]. The advent of this new decision has opened new laws that will soon ban abortion access, birth control and other means of contraceptives. This is a mean...

Pictured above: People marching in Boulder, Colorado for Reproductive Health Rights in May of 2022 with signs that say “Your right to abortion should not depend on your zip code.”   Unfortunately, though, zip codes shaping access to abortions may very much be more of a reality with the overturning of Roe v. Wade.    The New York Times reveals how the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Mississippi law could weaken or even overturn Roe v. Wade which could ultimately lead to legal abortion access dramatically decreasing, particularly in the American South and Midwest (Bui et al., 2021). This geographic discrepancy is even more reinforced through social class differences and communities that are “disproportionately Black, Latina, teenagers, uninsured, and undocumented immigrants” (Miller & Sanger-Katz, 2022). Ultimately, leading not only to be a social justice issue and human rights issue, but also a racial justice issue. Bui et al. quotes Caitlin Knowles Myers saying, “A post Roe-United States isn’t one in which abortion isn’t...

When having discussions about Roe v. Wade and the consequences of overturning it, it is of the utmost importance that we remember to center the stories and the voices of those that would be most affected by the loss of abortion access. It is often easy to get lost in the big-picture, Constitutional implications of Roe v. Wade being overturned, but the heart of this issue is the people. Some of our most vulnerable and most marginalized populations will feel the impact of Roe being overturned the most, and listening to them and understanding their stories is imperative to movements to preserve abortion access. Through this blogpost, I hope to highlight the stories of real people that need access to abortion services.    Adriana was 34 and living in Mexico when she found out that she was pregnant. Abortion was not legal where Adriana was from in Mexico. Adriana knew immediately that she wanted to terminate her pregnancy, but her choices were...