Across the country, many people have been outraged by the U.S Supreme Court’s recent decision in overturning Roe v. Wade, an almost 50 year precedent. In the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization decision, the Court ruled that “the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.
Abortion was first legalized throughout the United States in 1973 after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roe. Through a visual timeline, ABC News explains that Roe v. Wade was brought to the Supreme Court in 1971 when an unmarried pregnant woman, referred to as “Jane Roe” in court documents for anonymity purposes, challenged a state law in Texas that made it illegal for doctors to perform abortions, with the exception of life and death cases states began to have more inclusive abortion laws. Alabama and Massachusetts permitted abortions in the condition that a women’s physical health was at stake, while Mississippi only allowed it in the instance of rape or incest. To legally undergo the procedure, women would often travel to other states where abortions were permitted. A couple years later the Supreme Court legalized abortions in the United States.
The U.S Supreme Court has now upheld a 2018 Mississippi state law that bans abortion operations after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. The majority opinion in the ruling argued that “the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion.” Justice Samuel Alito expressed that the decision solely “concerns the constitutional right to abortion and no other right. Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.” However, Justice Clarence Thomas has come out to say that the reasoning behind the decision could also be applied in overturning previous precedents such as legalized same-sex marriage, the illegality of criminalizing consensual homosexual conduct, and the protected rights of married adults to contraception. The fear that this recent ruling has posited on many Americans is the idea that there seems to be a progression going back in time rather than forward.
President and CEO Sharon Scott- Chandler of ABCD has released a statement expressing the organization’s grave concern about the disproportionate impact it will have on under-resourced communities, particularly those of color. “It is the latest threat in our fight to achieve health equity,” she wrote. ABCD is a non-profit organization in the Greater Boston area that helps people in need. It is the largest anti-poverty agency in Massachusetts.
A recent Pew Research Center Survey, indicates that 61% of U.S adults say that abortions should be legal all or most of the time, while 37% say that it should be illegal all or most of the time. Interestingly while the majority of people in the United States agree that abortions should be legal, why does the Supreme Court’s decision not accurately reflect the majority of Americans? In a joint statement, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan emphasized that “young women today will come of age with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers” and that what the ruling entails is that “from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of. A state can force her to bring a pregnancy to term even at the steepest personal and familial costs.” They further express in their dissent that many millions of American women will have lost “a fundamental constitutional protection.”
Speaking to Sampan, Chandler explained that while Massachusetts has been a leader in the country in healthcare policies and sexual reproductive health, the concern is national. She emphasized that there is the ongoing issue of systemic and institutional racism. There has been this barrier created over time for people of color and low income communities to access healthcare services like emergency contraceptives “We have to be on high alert.” she described, “because not having the federal guarantee to legal abortion can lead to a lot of challenges whether it is emergency contraception or abortion. There’s more of a high alert so that further limitations are not sought that would eliminate altogether that fundamental right of choice to terminate pregnancy.”
ABCD is part of the national NFPRHA (National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association) which supports the Title X family planning program. There are hundreds across the country in each state and they are in constant communication and alliance with each other. They are all in solidarity with one another over the rights of reproductive health of women.
Sampan also recently spoke to Lucy Chie MD OB/GYN physician at South Cove Community Health Center in Boston, about her thoughts on the overturn of Roe v. Wade. She stated that the Supreme Court’s decision is “completely immoral and wrong” and that the decision will hurt patients across the country. For women who experience ectopic pregnancies, which is about 1 in 50 in the United States, abortions maybe the only treatment. In regards to women who have experienced ectopic pregnancies, she has seen patients come in first hand with barely a pulse. Chie emphasizes that “ectopic pregnancies can be life threatening in literally minutes.” She expresses that fortunately in Massachusetts abortion care is recognized and will remain legal. Patients that she serves will have access to reproductive healthcare. However, her concern is that patients with limited English proficiency will be confused on what their rights actually are due to the recent decision.
Abortions are now up to the states, but Chie fears that the recent ruling will cause a misunderstanding amongst patients as they will think that abortions are federally illegal. She further shared her concern that particular patients won’t know that they can reach out for help in Massachusetts at least. She has ensured that Massachusetts providers are ready to provide care for any patient in need, specifically those coming in from other states. Providers are nationally united in giving care and resources to patients in need that are affected by this ruling. In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker signed an executive order to protect access to reproductive health care services following the ruling. Healthcare providers that specialize in abortions across the country in states that will criminalize abortions, will not be permitted to perform the procedure. They will be forced to move to more progressive states for work and to be able to provide the necessary care that patients will need. Guttmacher reports that in 2017, there were 1,587 facilities in the United States that provided abortions. This included 808 clinics, 518 hospitals, and 261 physician offices. Pew Research Center explains while clinics make up 51% of these facilities, a vast majority approx. 95% of abortions occur at these sites.
