The Overturning of Roe v. Wade: An Outsider’s Perspective

Eleanor O’Toole (she/her)

Roe v Wade was a legal case in 1973, in which the U.S. supreme court ruled to allow women the constitutional right to an abortion if wanted or needed. On June 24th, 2022 the U.S. supreme court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade.

I am not an American citizen. I live in a country where my right to an abortion is not in question and I can sleep soundly at night with the knowledge that if I was ever a victim of rape or incest and it resulted in a pregnancy, I would be able to choose whether or not to have that child. If my life was ever in danger and the only solution was an abortion, I would be able to choose whether or not to have that child. If I was ever impregnated before I was ready to be a mother, I would be able to choose whether or not to have that child. But people just like me are now being stripped of that right because of the U.S. supreme court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade. Eight states have already banned abortion completely, with ten states soon to entirely ban or bring in severe restrictions. Twelve more states are having their abortion laws threatened. I am looking at this issue through the only lens I have: an outsider’s.

I was in the United States when the news broke of the supreme court's ruling. I was surrounded by people just like me who were being stripped of their right to choose because of their government failing them. I saw the devastation this caused firsthand. I found myself holding back my own tears, for all the people who had just been told that they don't have control over their own bodies. This was a huge step backward not just for women, who have been fighting for years to be seen as equal, but for all people. 

I could look at this issue and think, “it doesn't affect me so why should I care?” But how could I not? How can I turn my back on these people, when it could have just as easily been me? I have always prided myself on being a feminist, on speaking out about gender inequality in society, so when I heard this news, it was like being told the entire world was going back in time fifty years. My heart breaks for all the lives that will be lost because of this, for all the people that will have to live in terrible conditions.

The evening that the news broke I attended a protest at Washington Square Park in New York City. I found myself holding a sign that read “My body, My Choice”, it seems so simple it's almost laughable, because in what world would you not get a choice over the matters of your own body? I looked around me and saw people everywhere, it was one of the most crowded places I had ever been in and everyone was here protesting the same thing; women having their healthcare ripped away from them. I asked a few young people about how they were feeling on that historic day, and how they thought this was going to affect our generation and generations to come. Most of the people I asked had the same reaction: shock and anger. They told me that “it was a crime against women” and the fact that “male politicians making laws about women's bodies is ridiculous.”

One girl I asked responded with the following: “It brings me to tears, seeing all the people come together for the cause, but we shouldn't have had to,” I thought what she said encapsulated how a lot of Americans felt when the news broke.

Being in America that day has never made me more grateful for my own country, for my own government, which are trying its best to move forward, not back. In coming here I was almost shocked to see how much the youth of America has educated themselves on politics. I come from a place where teenagers don't have to fear who comes into power, where I can trust my government, but the young people here don't have such a luxury.  

I spoke with a teenage girl from Philadelphia, she told me that her grandparents are both Trump supporters and were pro-choice before he came into power, now her grandfather is against abortion. She thought that this reflects how America has changed under Trump's presidency and the influence he has on his followers, and I couldn't agree more.  

Banning abortion brings up so many issues, and this decision is going to affect the lives of millions. People will be forced to travel out of state and those who cannot afford to will just end up getting abortions in unsafe environments because even if it is banned it is still going to happen. Many women are going to lose their lives. This is the government's bid for control, this allows them to be in charge of women’s bodies. It is going to take women out of the workforce after we have spent about a hundred years fighting for a seat at the male-dominated table. One of the people I interviewed brought up an excellent point, they told me that this is going to “force a lot more children into the foster care system, which is broken to begin with”. The world is filled with children without a suitable guardian, or a safe place to live, and the fact that millions of women won't have access to abortions will only add to the population of starving and unsafe children. 

I think this issue affects the youth of today the most, we are the ones that will have to clean the mess that the past generations have created, and we have to face the repercussions. We were born into an evolving world and seeing the United States, a country with so much worldwide influence, take this massive step back in time is absolutely devastating for people everywhere. One teenage girl that I interviewed had said “our parents had the right to their own body, to get an abortion,” the youth of America were shown that this is the way things were, that the right to choose was something they had, now that is being snatched cruelly away from so many. It is unfair and unjust. 

Roe v. Wade being overturned will affect minorities and people of colour disproportionately due to systemic racism. The process of abortion care for many minorities is riddled with language barriers, cultural stigmas, and low rates of insurance coverage.

I believe that humans deserve bodily autonomy, and that we should have complete reproductive freedom. The United States Supreme Court has taken that away from so many. They have proven, once again, that we belong to a patriarchal society. They have set humanity back decades, and to put it simply, it's terrifying. They are setting the entire country up for failure. The repercussions of this law are going to have dire consequences and it is my sincere hope that this is something the country can recover from. The U.S. has so much influence worldwide and I can only hope that this does not inspire other countries to strip their citizens of their right to choose. 

This is an issue for anyone with a female reproductive system, for anyone who cares about the authority you should have over your own body. 

I would like to reiterate the fact that I am simply an outsider looking in, I am empathetic to the people that this directly affects, and, to my core, I hope for a brighter future, for the United States and for the world.