Article by: Ananya Ravi

Interviews by: Aarnavi Patel, Phi Chanda, Sani Page

Visual by: Ananya Ravi

In 1973, the supreme court passed the ground-breaking decision in the court case Roe V Wade which officially recognized the right to choose abortion to be protected under a person’s right to privacy. It was argued that health concerns theoretically include the psychological distress due to the fiscal impacts of carrying and physical stress from carrying a pregnancy to term when the case first came to court in the late 20th century. After a few years of battle, on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roe (the pseudonym under which the case was held), stating that abortion was a legal right in the United States (“Roe v. Wade,” 2022). The public had overwhelmingly disapproved of the decision to overturn this case with a 57% majority (Nadeem, 2022). This article will take a deep dive into the various opinions on the current events regarding reproductive rights. 

In interviews conducted by Aarnavi Patel, Phi Chanda, and Sani Page, three teachers at Irvington High School in Fremont, CA express their opinions on the overturning of Roe v. Wade, its possible future impacts, and their stance on abortion rights. In order to represent a diverse range of voices, the interviewees were chosen from various backgrounds. Ms. Sharma is a South Asian woman who lived in a liberal country for a period of time, and Ms. Ferrer identifies as a devout Christian. Ms. Miller was born in the U. S. while her mother is Jewish, and her father is a Christian. All three of them specify how their personal backgrounds impact their political beliefs, especially relative to abortion rights. 

The first interviewee was Ms. Sharma and she lived in Nepal, where abortion is legal. To provide some background, in some states, citizens held preference for a male fetus over female ones, and the. Most families preferred male children over female ones because males usually take on the financial responsibilities, while females take on domestic ones. In Nepal today, healthcare professionals are prohibited from revealing the sex of the fetus to the parent(s) to avoid abortions based on the gender of the fetus. Terminating pregnancies on the basis of the sex of the fetus can result in up to two years in prison (Kathmandu, 2017). She vehemently believes that a person is entitled to make an informed decision, especially in the case of sexual assault or unique health issues during or caused by pregnancy.

Ms. Miller was raised to be very independent, and her parents didn’t influence her career or her religious/spiritual beliefs even though her parents are religious themselves. Miller states that people’s bodily autonomy should be protected under a resident's privacy in their personal space. She holds that the Supreme Court is currently unrepresentative of the public, and leaning toward a conservative, Catholic court. According to the Pew Research center, about two-thirds of adults who have been closely following the Supreme Court’s recent current decisions view the Court as being conservative (Nadeem 2022). She believes in the court packing plan, “efforts to manipulate Court’s membership for partisan ends” such as advocating for more than nine Justices on the Supreme Court (“What is court packing?,” 2020). According to Article III of the United States constitution, Supreme Court Justices serve lifetime in court, which Miller points out to be ineffective in current times as the demographics of this country has significantly expanded. She predicts that in the future, restrictions on abortion rights will soon lead to more activism, prompting younger generations to become politically aware. As more states start passing restrictions and full bans on abortions, Miller asserts that despite the “pockets of red” in California, residents are protected from these restrictions for the most part. In terms of reproductive health, she feels that awareness and access to contraceptives is important because ultimately, even if the choice to have an abortion should be given to the person carrying, preventative measures are crucial.

The third interviewee, Ms. Ferrer, is a practicing Christian, although she doesn’t accept the religiously motivated moral arguments against abortion. She argues that “if you want to base your laws on scripture, then we’d need to back track and rewrite so many laws''. Her overall beliefs on the overturning of Roe v. Wade is that abortion rights should be protected and that this decision disproportionately affects people of color who have lesser access to reproductive health services. She further goes on to say without a proper separation of church and state, the U. S. would be hypocritical to claim that it’s a democracy. Common arguments opposed to abortion include religious beliefs, contrary to Ferrer’s stance, who boldly asserts that “a sovereign God who is the creator of life doesn’t care if a child is born so much that He cares about the livelihood of his people.” As someone who is pro-choice, Ferrer acknowledges that the pro-choice legislation would advocate for adequate sex education to inform people of their choices and allow them to plan their pregnancies. She believes that if people aren’t ready to have kids, they shouldn’t be forced to do so including non-life threatening pregnancies such as with cases of sexual assault.

All three of the interviewees shared the view that abortion is a choice that should fully belong to the person carrying. Each of the teachers support their claims with strong reasonings, and expand upon different areas of the subject such as the patriarchal preference for a male fetus over female one, the idea of court packing, and the hypocrisy of religious pro-chioce arguments. As reported by the Center for Reproductive Rights, in half of the U.S, abortion is inaccessible or is criminalized fully (“After Roe,” 2022). Many people are also concerned by whether states will go beyond banning abortion to restricting Plan B and other contraceptives, making planned pregnancies harder to achieve.

References

 After Roe fell: Abortion laws by State. (2022, August 25).  Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved December 30, 2022, from https://reproductiverights.org/maps/abortion-laws-by-state/

 Kathmandu, P. K. (2017, December 25). Gender-based abortions threaten Nepalese Society - UCA News. Union of Catholic Asian News. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.ucanews.com/news/gender-based-abortions-threaten-nepalese-society/78705 

 Nadeem, R. (2022, July 11). Majority of public disapproves of Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/07/06/majority-of-public-disapproves-of-supreme-courts-decision-to-overturn-roe-v wade/#:~:text=A% 20majority%20of%20Americans%20disapprove,abortion%20for%20nearly%2050%20years

Nadeem, R. (2022, February 7). Public's views of Supreme Court turned more negative before news of Breyer's retirement. Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. Retrieved December 18, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/02/02/publics-views-of-supreme-court-turned-more-negative-before-news-of-breyers-retirement/

 Roe v. Wade. (2022, November 14). Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://reproductiverights.org/roe-v-wade/ 

P. Chanda & S. Page, personal communication, September 8, 2022.

P. Chanda, S. Page, & A. Patel, personal communication, September 19, 2022.

P. Chanda & A. Patel, personal communication, September 21, 2022.

 What is court packing? (2020, October 27). Rutgers University. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from https://www.rutgers.edu/news/what-court-packing