The Supreme Court leaked documents surrounding the overturning of Roe v. Wade as well as Planned Parenthood v. Casey have created a very likely potential for the banning of abortions in many conservative states. While many of those who are in favor of banning abortions argue that they are “pro-life”, they fail to acknowledge the origins of their movement, the consequences of outlawing abortion, and who these consequences most greatly affect. 

To start, the anti-abortion movement was founded on a fight for segregation: a successful attempt to unite evangelicals under republicans. For, before Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion was not polarizing as it is today. In fact, many southern and conservative states like South Carolina had loosened abortion restrictions prior to the landmark case due to recommendations from the American Law of Institute.

The result of the political scheme means the loss of access to safe abortions and the leaked Supreme Court draft implicates a disproportionate impact on economically disadvantaged women and trans people of color in conservative states. Data shows that Black and Hispanic women have respectively three and two times the number of unintended pregnancies compared to white women. This impact is in terms of disease, deep emotional trauma, and even death within communities. 

If people do not have access to abortions, that does not mean they will not get one. Rather, it means unsafe alternatives. This can be seen in examples such as El Salvador where, although abortion is illegal, one in three pregnancies end in abortion. “Back alley” abortions which often lead to severe diseases and infections. Brazil proves the danger of outlawing abortion, where around 250,000 women are hospitalized for abortions every year. 

But what seems most contradictory is that many of the same people who argue on the side of “pro-life”, also fight against people receiving adequate sex education, obtatining sex contraceptions, getting health insurance, being given paternal leave, and so on. If there are barriers such as the cost of a child or the lack of knowledge of how birth control affects heavier and/or trans bodies, then there should only be an increase in abortion.

Nobody wants to go through the process of an abortion, it can be physically painful, emotionally-tolling and expensive. But the decision to carry and birth a child for nine months, and potentially care for that human for 18 years should be up to the body that is carrying it. The health, lives, and human rights of those who are able to carry on life need to be prioritized and simply, respected.