Roe vs. Wade: Undoing progress

You will immediately realize at least two things if you've witnessed childbirth.?

1. A tiny life is coming into the world, and taking its first breath is nothing short of magical.?

2. How unfairly and unevenly distributed the load is between mothers and fathers in creating a new life. For the mother, it takes nine months, complete with hormone changes, sleepless nights, swollen limbs, invasive doctor appointments, stretch marks, and what I assume to be an unimaginable amount of pain during delivery. That's not to say about the uneven work required once a child is actually born.?

This dichotomy is why the action of the US Supreme Court to strike down the fifty-year law, Roe V Wade, is disturbing.

Here are the four reasons this decision is wrong in our times.?

1. Women should have control over their own bodies. The world has changed a lot in the last fifty years. Women should have all the opportunities men have, especially in deciding what they want with their lives and careers. Forcing them to carry out an unplanned pregnancy takes this right away and can completely change the course of their lives. The decision to plan her life must be hers.?

2. Roe v Wade. also affects men. Being a father when one is not ready or does not want to take on that role doesn't bode well for the father, the mother, or the child.?

3. Abortions will happen regardless. This will not end abortion but only end safe abortion and will disproportionately impact poor women, women of color, women who have unviable pregnancies like ectopic pregnancies, or those who became pregnant because of violence against them.?

4. The right to privacy extends beyond Roe v Wade. Striking down an established precedent by destroying the right-to-privacy law that underpins it could undoubtedly expand to other areas like LGBTQ rights.?

I understand this is a nuanced conversation, with emotions high on both sides. I know that legal scholars constantly remind us that the original law was not correctly decided, but the fact is that today less than a third of Americans want to overturn Roe v Wade. Seeing a court overrule the majority's opinion, especially to limit the rights of one group, will undoubtedly set us back as a society.?

I will end it with a sentence from the joint dissent written by the three opposing justices:

"Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain: the curtailment of women's rights, and their status as free and equal citizens." - We dissent.?