Roe v. Wade: A Modern Issue

Author: Abby Garber, GRVA Policy Director

Abortion. From Brazil to America, abortion is one of the most disputed, divisive topics. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States made a historic and unprecedented ruling in the case Roe v. Wade, affirming that women having the liberty to make decisions for their bodies without extensive government restrictions is a constitutional right. Many of the advocates who are campaigning to erode all of the protections that Roe v. Wade brought women, aren’t aware of the dangers of the world before Roe.

Roe v. Wade was not the beginning of abortions in the U.S; it was the end of unsafe and illegal back alley abortions that put women in danger. In 1965, just eight years before Roe, illegal abortions made up 17%, or one in six, of all deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth. The ban on abortions disproportionately affected low-income families. A study based in New York City in the 1960s, found that of the one in ten low-income women who have attempted an illegal abortion, eight in ten said that they tried a self-induced abortion. Those statistics are only according to official records, researchers suspect that the actual numbers were much higher. If Roe is overturned, it will not stop abortions; it will only be the end of safe abortions. If the assault on Roe continues, 25 million women all around the country could be in jeopardy of losing their reproductive healthcare. We cannot go back to a time when hundreds of women die each year from risky, hazardous abortions.

Since Roe v. Wade, abortions have become one of the safest medical procedures. Per CDC reports from 2003 to 2009, the success rate for abortions was 99.33% for every 100,000 abortions. Compare that to another reproductive health treatment, Viagra, which has a death rate of 5 per 100,000 prescriptions according to the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. Somehow, you don’t find people marching for a prohibition on Viagra.

The facts don’t lie. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, it could put millions of women at risk. I refuse to go back to a time in history where hundreds of women die each year due to a lack of access to basic reproductive healthcare. I am calling this healthcare because pregnancy, while natural, is a medical condition which people seek care for. Pregnancy modifies a woman’s body and puts her life and health at risk. There are other arguments to be made such as universal childcare, expanding access to contraceptives, reforming the foster care system, comprehensive sex education, and passing policies to end the Black maternal health crisis. An assault on reproductive rights is an assault on women’s rights. Women cannot have equity until every woman, regardless of income, has access to reproductive healthcare.

If you are passionate about reproductive rights, visit bit.ly/protectreprorights to find ways to help preserve reproductive rights in your community.