# data[].attributes.body
1. Carmon, I.  (April 28, 2017).  If abortions become illegal, here’s how the government will prosecute women who have them.  The Washington Post.  Retrieved June 15, 2022 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/04/28/if-abortions-become-illegal-heres-how-the-government-will-prosecute-women-who-have-them/

2. Hoffman, J. (June 9, 2022).  The New Abortion Bans: Almost No Exceptions for Rape, Incest or Health. The New     York Times.  Retrieved June 16, 2022 from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/health/abortion-bans-rape-incest.html

3.   Ngo, M. & Fadulu, L. (May 14, 2022).  With Roe in Peril, Thousands Gather at Marches for Abortion Rights.  The New York Times.  Retrieved June 16, 2022 from  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/14/us/abortion-rights-march.html.

4. Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Inc. (2022). Access to abortion is legal, constitutionally protected, and supported by most Americans. Planned Parenthood. Retrieved June 17, 2022 from https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion

# data[].attributes.body
1. Shafer, R. (May 5, 2022). Who was Jane Roe, and how did she transform abortion rights? The Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2022 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/05/what-is-roe-v-wade/.

2. Ryu, J. (2022, June 6). Abortions don’t have to be traumatic. But overturning Roe v. Wade could make it that way. USA Today. Retrieved June 15, 2022 from https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/06/06/roe-v-wade-abortion-overturn-lead-mental-health-risk-experts/9853538002/

3. Blake, A. (2022, May 3). The Supreme Court’s draft opinion on overturning Roe v. Wade, annotated. NBC News. Retrieved June 16, 2022 from https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2022/dobbs-alito-draft-annotated/.

4. CBS Interactive Inc. (2022, May 14). Thousands gather for pro-abortion rights protests across U.S. CBS News. Retrieved on June 16, 2022 from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-rights-protests-supreme-court-leaked-draft-opinion-roe-v-wade/#x

# data[].attributes.body
Supreme Court:

In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled to establish legal abortion rights for women as a federal law known as: Roe v. Wade. The law states that women, with the aid of a physician, have the right to perform an abortion.

On May 6, 2022, there was a leaked draft opinion of overturning Roe v. Wade which was written by Justice Alito.

Although most polls show that Americans want to protect abortion laws, the Supreme Court has the final decision pertaining to whether Roe v. Wade will or will not be overturned

Congress:

In 2018, a bill passed the House of Representatives to put a federal ban on abortion after the fetus is 20 weeks of age.

Pro-choice advocates:

These advocates support the protection of abortion laws and to keep the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade

Senator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, vowed to fight for the right to abortion in every state. He even participated in the abortion rights protests led by pro-choice advocates.

Elected officials: Mayor Eric Adam, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand:  and Letitia James, the state attorney general, led a protest in Foley Square.

Pro-life advocates:

These advocates support the overruling of Roe v. Wade

“The State of Mississippi asks us to uphold the constitutionality of a law that generally prohibits an abortion after the fifteenth week of pregnancy — several weeks before the point at which a fetus is now regarded as ‘viable’ outside the womb.”

“So far, the consequences of these misconceptions can be seen in Texas, where one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country has banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy

Senator Ted Cruz and Coryn of Texas, placed a ban abortion after six weeks. The ban also indicates that anyone is allowed to sue an individual for assisting women in performing an abortion.

President Kirstan Hawkins of Students for Life (a pro-life organization), has publicly protested against abortion at the expense of rape, incest, or life endangerment.

Many states like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, and more have placed several penalties against abortion.

# data[].attributes.headline
Current Event of Overturning Roe v. Wade

# data[].attributes.subject
Current Event of Overturning Roe v. Wade

# data[].attributes.body
On May 2, 2022, “The Supreme Court appears potentially poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case enshrining a constitutional right to an abortion, according to a leaked draft opinion obtained and published by Politico on Monday night” (Blake, 2022, Pg. 1). “Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. . . . confirmed the authenticity of the draft opinion, which is written by Justice Samuel Alito, in Dobbs. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. But he emphasized that it ‘does not represent a decision by the court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case" (Blake, 2022, Pg. 2).

Contribution to the issue:

The leak of this information had led to the rise of protests around the nation to support the upholding of Roe v Wade

This also led to more states placing more stricter laws on abortion procedures

The debate between pro-life and pro-choice supporters have arose

# data[].attributes.body
Overturning Roe v. Wade will only lead to an unsatisfying life for women who are not mentally stable. If women are forced into carrying a child that they can’t support – especially in instances of incest and rape –, this may put them into trauma and cause them to have mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety.

Evidence:

“In a study conducted over the course of 10 years, researchers tracked the experiences of women who received abortions and those who had been denied due to gestational age limits. They found that having an abortion did not increase one's risk for anxiety, depression or PTSD”  (Ryu, 2022, Pg. 2).

“According to the American Psychological Association, experiencing unwanted pregnancies can lead to mental health ramifications, such as lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety (Ryu, 2022, Pg. 4).

# data[].attributes.body
Living in Dallas, Texas in 1970, Norma McCorvey – most commonly known as “Jane Roe” – wanted to terminate her pregnancy; however, at the time, abortion procedures were illegal in 29 states, including Texas. Therefore, she “. . . filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas” in which she had argued that the Texas abortion law was “‘cruel’ and ‘inadequate,’ especially for poor women who couldn’t afford to travel to other states to get legal abortions” (Shafer, 2022, Pg. 2). When the Supreme Court got notice of this case, Roe challenged Henry Wade – who “. .  . was the Dallas County district attorney who enforced the Texas abortion law” – at the federal level (Shafer, 2022, Pg. 2).

Contribution to the issue:
Due to the state laws that restricted, or sometimes prohibited abortions prior to 1973 had been the foundation of why Jane Roe decided to speak up and voice her right to have access to abortion in the Roe v. Wade court case.

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade should not be overturned because it prevents women from exercising their individual right to make decisions for their own selves, which includes making decisions to control their body.

Evidence:

“Roe termed this a right to privacy, and Casey described it as the freedom to make ‘intimate and personal choices’ that are ‘central to personal dignity and autonomy.’ Casey elaborated: ‘At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life’” (Blake, 2022, Pg. 9).

“This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or ... in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether to terminate her pregnancy” (Shafer, 2022, Pg. 3).

"’Because of these narratives, many feel like they're losing their autonomy, their sense of self-determination and feel helpless and devalued as merely a vessel breeding a fetus, and not an actual human being’” (Ryu, 2022, Pg. 4).

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade should be overturned because it praises murder of an unborn human being.

Evidence:

“. . . a human person comes into being at conception and that abortion ends an innocent life” (Blake, 2022, Pg. 2-3).

“Roe’s defenders characterize the abortion right as similar to the rights recognized in past decisions involving matters such as intimate sexual relations, contraception, and marriage, but abortion is fundamentally different, as both Roe and Casey acknowledged, because it destroys what those decisions called “fetal life” and what the law now before us describes as an ‘unborn human being’” (Blake, 2022, Pg. 6).

# data[].attributes.body
The federal landmark of Roe v. Wade should be overturned because a fetus can feel pain. Also, any life is valuable no how it was conceived.

Evidence:

“A federal ban on abortion after 20 weeks – premised on the notion, disputed by major medical organizations, that a fetus can feel pain at that point – has already passed the House of Representatives.” (Carmon, 2017, pg. 2)

“Students for Life, an anti-abortion organization, distinguishes between exceptions for rape or incest, and one to save the life of the woman, said Kristan Hawkins, the group’s president. How a child was conceived, she said, is irrelevant to the value of that child’s life: “We see them as valuable, worthy of love, and welcome.” (Hoffman, 2022, pg. 3)

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade should be overturned because it is unconstitutional since the Constitution didn’t explicitly state that women have the right to an abortion.

Evidence

“The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be ‘deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition’ and ‘implicit in the concept of ordered liberty’” (Blake, 2022, Pg. 5-6).

# data[].attributes.body
“On Jan[uary] 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision ruled that women have a constitutional right to abortion” (Shafer, 2022, Pg. 1). “The court ruled “that a woman has an absolute right during the first three months of pregnancy to decide whether to bear her child” . . . After the first trimester, abortion can’t be banned before the pregnancy is “viable” (Shafer, 2022, Pg. 3).

Contribution to the issue:

This verdict in Roe v. Wade protected a woman’s right to having an abortion throughout the United States of America.

There became a division between pro-life supporters and pro-choice supporters

Pro-life supporters advocate for outlawing abortions

Pro-Choice supporters advocate for protecting the right to an abortion

# data[].attributes.body
On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that women have a constitutional right to abortion in the case of Roe v. Wade.

During this time, pro-life and pro-choice movements had taken place where pro-life advocates argued for the repeal of Roe w. Wade and pro-choice advocates argued for the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade.

However, on May 2, 2022, a leaked draft opinion of the Supreme Court’s majority decision to potentially overturn Roe v. Wade was published.

Arguments once again arose between pro-life and pro-choice activists in which pro-life supporters advocate for the overruling of Roe v. Wade but pro-choice activists advocate for the upholding of Roe v. Wade.

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade is very beneficial for all women especially financially disadvantaged women and minority women who already have have trouble with access to affordable healthcare. Roe v. Wade provides women with safe, legal, and affordable abortions through the Hyde Amendment; it allows women to get abortions that are paid by Medicaid (an affordable healthcare program). If abortions are no longer protected on a federal level, struggling women will be jeopardized and may resort to unsafe, illegal abortions.

Evidence:

“2019: The Trump-Pence administration issues a Title X gag rule in an attempt to ban providers in the Title X program from telling millions of patients how they can safely and legally access abortion — and “defund” Planned Parenthood health centers by making it impossible for Title X patients to obtain birth control there.” (“Planned Parenthood”, 2022, pg. 11)

“In some places, abortion restrictions have in fact made abortion harder to access. These restrictions fall especially hard on people with low incomes, for whom the cost of transportation, childcare, and taking time off work often combine to put abortion access out of reach.” (“Planned Parenthood”, 2022, pg.5)

“Ignoring mass protests, anti-abortion Texas politicians enact sweeping abortion restrictions. In the following three years, half of Texas's approximately 40 abortion providers close, leaving many people to travel hundreds of miles or cross states lines to get an abortion.” (“Planned Parenthood”, 2022, pg. 9)

“She noted that even as Mississippi legislators restricted abortion access, they refused to expand postpartum Medicaid coverage.” (Hoffman, 2022, pg. 2)

“City Councilwoman Crystal Hudson, who represents several neighborhoods in Brooklyn, said she was especially concerned about what overturning Roe would mean for low-income and Black and brown people.” (Ngo, 2022, pg. 4)

# data[].attributes.headline
Why the issue is a concern for the nation:

# data[].attributes.subject
Why the issue is a concern for the nation:

# data[].attributes.body
it “. . . invades a woman’s right to control her own body and prevents women from achieving full equality" (Blake, 2022, Pg. 2-3).

it violates a womans “. . . right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or ... in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether to terminate her pregnancy” (Shafer, 2022, Pg. 3).

it will make women “. . . feel like they're losing their autonomy, their sense of self-determination and feel helpless and devalued as merely a vessel breeding a fetus, and not an actual human being’" (Ryu, 2022, Pg. 4).

Women who are financially and mentally unstable to support a child are going to be forced to endure an unwanted pregnancy, which will potentially let them have increased mental disorders and more financial instability

“. . . banning abortion will [not] stop abortion. It just makes it unsafe and can cost a woman her life . . .” because women are going to resort to illegal, self-managed abortions (CBS Interactive Inc, 2022, Pg. 2).

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade provides women with paid abortions through Medicaid especially abortions at the expense of rape, incest, or life endangerment as this right is protected by the ACA (Affordable Care Act). Women are also provided with safe, accessible, affordable abortions.

Evidence:

“Exceptions for rape, incest and life endangerment are codified in the Hyde Amendment as the only reasons the federal government will pay for abortions through Medicaid.” (Hoffman, 2022, pg. 1)

“Planned Parenthood is proud to provide safe, legal abortion at health centers around the country…access to the full range of reproductive health care services, including safe, legal abortion…” (“Planned Parenthood”, 2022, pg. 7)

# data[].attributes.headline
How will the overruling of Roe v. Wade affect women who wish to receive an abortion?

# data[].attributes.subject
How will the overruling of Roe v. Wade affect women who wish to receive an abortion?

# data[].attributes.body
“According to the American Psychological Association, experiencing unwanted pregnancies can lead to mental health ramifications, such as lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety” (Ryu, 2022, Pg. 4).

Women will be deprived of their right to privacy, which includes being able to make their own decisions regarding their body, and they’ll lose their “. . . autonomy, their sense of self-determination and feel helpless and [be] devalued as merely a vessel breeding a fetus, and not an actual human being” (Ryu, 2022, Pg. 4).

Outlawing abortion will not stop abortion. Instead, it will increase the rates of illegal and unsafe abortions that can be fatal for a woman's life (“CBS Interactive Inc,” 2022, Pg. 2).

Although the supreme court had said that the state and local governments will decide on the restriction laws of abortion, ". . .  roughly half of states, mostly in the South and Midwest, are expected to quickly ban abortion” (“CBS Interactive Inc,” 2022, Pg. 7).

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade should not be overturned

Roe v. Wade should not be overturned because it would disable women who are at risk of losing the right to choose what they do with their body. Women would jeopardize their lives from resorting to unsafe abortion methods, keeping a child that endangers their health, and having a mental toll of birthing a child that was the result of rape or incest. Not only will women be handicapped with abortions being legal but many of the health benefits that Roe v. Wade provided, would be demolished. In addition, desperate women would be wrongfully prosecuted for performing an abortion for their benefit or even unintentionally losing their child.

Personally, I believe that since each state in the United States are separate sovereigns with their own state constitutions, each state should allow citizens to vote on whether or not Roe v. Wade should be overturned. In doing this, the people in a state would be able to project their opinion and this may have a positive effect on abortion rights in single state as well as enourage the Supreme Court to vote against overturning Roe v. Wade. On a national level, I believe the Supreme Court (which has the majority of power over the repeal) should recognize the protests led by abortion rights activists as well as listen to the women who are speaking our against the repeal. If Roe v. Wade is not overturning, I believe that the government should prohibit individual states from being able to make any loopholes around abortion rights such as: federal bans or penalties towards women who perform abortions.

Connection to research:

Before this project, I was already familiar with the benefits of Roe v. Wade but I was not familiar that women have still been penalized for having abortions as Roe v. Wade was in effect. I didn’t know that separate states in the U.S were able to enforce abortion bans and prosecute women for having an abortion in the first place. My knowlegde of this topic has been enhanced because I learned how Roe v. Wade protected women health care wise by paying for abortions through Medicaid. In current events, my stance on abortion rights has always been the same: women should be allowed to have a right make their own decisions; however, I now support abortion rights advocates in a stronger way.

# data[].attributes.body
Roe v. Wade should not be overturned.

Roe v. Wade should not be overturned because it prevents women from exercising their individual right to make decisions for their own selves, which includes making decisions to control their body. It will also prevent women from getting access to safe abortions; instead, it will only lead to women taking measures into their own hands by committing illegal and self-handled abortions that could be life-threatening.
I believe that the levels of government that have the power to address this issue the most is the state and national government. I believe that the state government should first appeal to the public’s opinion and have the citizens of that state vote on whether Roe v. Wade should or shouldn’t be overturned. If most of the citizens support the protection of Roe v. Wade, the state government should then reach out to the national government, specifically the judicial branch because this is where the 9 justices have the final say pertaining to whether Roe v. Wade will or will not be overturned. Since our national government is also responsible for representing the voices of American citizens, they should also acknowledge all of the protests in which pro-choice activists are advocating for the protection of Roe v. Wade. If they acknowledge the citizens of America and the majority of them voting to protect Roe v. Wade, the judicial branch of the national government should declare Roe v. Wade as constitutional so that women are still able to access legal and safe abortions.

Connection between research & current POV:

Prior to doing this final project, I was already aware of the verdict of Roe v. Wade was and the current events in which there is a potential overruling of Roe v. Wade. I knew that Roe v. Wade gave women the right to access legal and safe abortions; however, I wasn’t aware of the pro-choice and pro-life stances and what their beliefs and values were. I also learned about the brutal consequences that would occur if Roe v. Wade gets overturned. But most importantly, I realized how undemocratic society is. For almost 50 years, Roe v. Wade was established to protect women’s sense of autonomy pertaining to their reproductive decisions. Polls and protests have even proven that majority of America wants to protect abortion rights; yet, even though citizens may be advocating for their own beliefs and values, it only depends on the people in government who can actually provide America with legal change and justice. Knowing that the Supreme Court may decide to overrule Roe v. Wade already proves how the justice system is unfair. It shows how the leaders of America want to suppress women of their rights and put them in the closet, and have women be deemed superior – similar to how women were perceived from colonial America to the 19th century.