The leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion to overturn Roe vs. Wade has caused an uproar amongst Americans. A right which once granted women autonomy over their own bodies is being threatened.

     Before the Roe vs. Wade leak, the right to a safe abortion was already at risk in many states. States, such as Florida, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma, are passing laws making abortions illegal within a few weeks of conception, restricting many people of the right to a safe and timely timely abortion. 

     Oklahoma just passed the strictest abortion law in the country. This law prohibits abortion after the stage of fertilization, which is about 3 weeks into pregnancy. A pregnancy often isn’t detectable until at least week 2, given a person in need virtually no time to safely get an abortion.  

     Now that Roe vs. Wade is at risk of being overturned, people are worried about their right to make a choice. A choice that involves the person making it, and only the person making it. Lawmakers should have no choice over YOUR body, what you choose to do with your body is your choice and your choice and yours only. These laws are a blatant control grab that will only benefit the people making them. 

     Right wing lawmakers are claiming that these laws are being set in place to protect unborn lives, when in actuality these laws are being put in place to control women and infringe on other rights that are basic and necessary. 

     A very important argument that has been brought up, is one of voting rights. You may ask, what do voting rights have to do with abortion? The simple is answer is making abortion a felony makes any woman who gets one a felon, restricting their access to vote. Overturning a person’s right to an abortion would also give them no say in who determines their other rights. 

    There is also something to say about safe access to abortion, with an emphasis on the word safe. Banning abortions will not stop them from happening, it will only make them unsafe. Putting women at risk when they may not be ready or able to take care of a child only forces unhealthy lives onto the women being forced into motherhood and the children being brought into a world they are not fully supported in. These laws are trying to reinforce the idea that a woman’s only purpose is to be a mother, it restricts them from being able to move up professionally and economically, which is what these lawmakers want. 

      The fight to control women and take away a person’s right to choose has been a long one.  The U.S. has come very far to grant people that right, and now it seems it is all falling down right on top of us. 

      People are protesting the overturning of Roe vs. Wade all over the country. Watching rights being fought to be ripped from hands, and no longer being able to make a choice in your own life has people outraged. We will continue to fight until we are granted the basic human right of having a choice over our bodies and ideas, because we will not be silenced.