On 24th June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision of Roe v Wade. Previously, this monumental case enshrined a woman’s right to an abortion in the US Constitution.
Roe v Wade came about as in 1969, a 25-year-old single woman called Norma McCorvey (using the pseudonym “Jane Roe”), challenged the criminal abortion laws in Texas. At that time the State of Texas prohibited abortion unless the mother’s life was in danger.
Ms McCorvey was pregnant with her third child, claiming that this child had been conceived as a result of rape. However the case was dismissed, and she was forced to carry and, subsequently, give birth to the child. She appealed that decision on the basis that the current abortion laws infringed a woman’s right to privacy and in 1973 her appeal landed in the hands of the US Supreme Court.
Her appeal was successful and so the monumental case of Roe v Wade 1973 was born; giving women an absolute right to abortion in the first trimester and also allowing for abortions in the second trimester. Beyond the first trimester, States could regulate or prohibit abortions except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.
Fast forward to Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case arose in March 2018 when the State of Mississippi introduced the Gestational Age Act which prohibited almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The day before it was due to take effect, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only licenced abortion clinic in Mississippi, challenged it and were successful. The Court found that “the record is clear: States may not ban abortions prior to viability”. Mississippi appealed the decision to the Supreme Court which decided that there is no constitutional right to abortion and therefore Roe v Wade must be overruled. The decision supported Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks and allowed States to make individual decisions about their abortion laws; effectively ending women’s constitutional right to an abortion.
It was a sad day for our sisters in the States. They are no longer protected by the Constitution and instead have to place their trust in their State electives. This is an extremely scary position as it is now essentially pot luck of where you’re lucky enough to live. Thirteen States have already passed trigger laws that will automatically prohibit abortion, following this decision, and many more are expected to follow suit.
These States now have the freedom to completely ban abortion irrespective of the circumstance; whether it’s rape or incest or an unviable foetus. So, depending on the State in which you live, a woman may have to carry a baby to full term with the knowledge that it will be still born, or a woman will have to carry, and birth, her abuser’s child.
This decision by the US Supreme Court has cast women out in the cold. It is a sign to women to say that their autonomy is no longer important, and they are no longer permitted or trusted to make informed decisions about their own bodies. It is grossly unjust and plainly wrong.
Of course there will be the religious arguments that abortion is “playing God” and is a sin, however we must not forget that there is an intentional division between Church and State. Individuals are entitled to exercise their personal belief and that’s the crux of the issue … it’s their personal belief and women should be trusted and supported in making the most personal decision they can make.
As Ruth Bader Ginsburg expressed during the judgment of Roe v Wade back in 1973: “the decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and identity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” Sadly, that is exactly what has happened here.
The ability to make informed choice about one’s body is a right that should be respected and protected, enshrined in law. Not a right that can be unilaterally removed and criminalised.
What the Supreme Court must remember is that this will not end abortions; this will end safe abortions. It will drive women to seek illegal “black market” abortions or attempt to do it themselves, risking their own lives in the process. The US has taken a monumental step back and the notion that this is happening in 2022 is utterly mind blowing. The US Supreme Court has removed the protection of women in their own jurisdiction; pregnancy is the most vulnerable time of a woman’s life, and this decision has made women even more vulnerable and removed a right that women have had for almost 50 years. This is a war against women.
Grace Rose Gwynne,
Barrister, No5 Barristers’ Chambers
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