Abortion has been one of the biggest, consequential issues the U.S. and its people have endured. It has been a long-contentious debate in America, going back further than most people think. In the mid-1800s, abortion was a regular part of life for a woman. During the early years, the 1700s- early 1800s, medical literature and newspapers regularly referred to herbs and medications as ‘abortion-inducing methods, since surgical procedures were rarely done. Until the mid-19th century, the U.S. attitude toward abortion was much the same as it had often been elsewhere throughout history; it was a quiet reality, and legal until “quickening” (when fetal motion could be felt by the mother).
In 1973, the Supreme Court held the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause and Roe v. Wade information. In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s decision was the right to privacy which also implied with the 14th Amendment to protect abortion as a fundamental right. The act of these Amendments was to protect a person’s right to make their own private, medical decision. The Fifth Amendment is the act of a person not having to share any sort of personal information.
Millions of women and girls across the United States have suffered an alarming deterioration of access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. This is a result of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022. As of January 2023, abortion has been banned in 14 States across the country, and the consequences of the Supreme Court decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has reverberated throughout the entire legal and policy system, according to experts.
While abortion is at the top of the list of debates, people who have supported the abortion right are highly exasperated. An Idaho mother, as well as her son, have been charged with 2nd-degree kidnapping over out-of-state abortion. Because this act disregards the laws the state has given, this has turned into a major problem. Idaho police have started to investigate the boy and his mother after the pregnant girlfriend’s mom had made a report to the police about her being sexually assaulted.
Though abortion is a human right, there are still many risks being taken. There are concerns about it being done secretly, illegally, or to just prove a point. I will state that abortion should still be considered a human right. No one should have the right to control how one decides to deal with their body, especially people who don’t understand what it’s like to be in that position. A government claims it wants to keep a safe and protected community, yet citizens still fight for their right for choice and survival.
