Land of the Free(ish): Overturning of Roe v. Wade

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​Originally established in 1973, Roe v. Wade was a landmark decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution would generally protect a person’s liberty to abortion care. To provide a bit of background on the case, in 1970 Jane Roe (a fictional name used in court documents to protect the plaintiff’s identity) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County, Texas county, challenging a law making abortion illegal except by a doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life. Roe, a resident of Dallas County at the time, alleged that the state laws were “unconstitutionally vague and abridged her right of personal privacy, protected by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments.” In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jane Roe, holding that “a woman’s right to an abortion” was implied in the Fourteenth Amendment, thereby striking down a Texas statute banning abortion and effectively legalizing the procedure across the country.

​The discussion and subsequent legislation around abortion centered the preservation of human life, preceded only by the concept of when a human life begins. Ironically, there is often little to no consideration for the hundreds of millions of people alive today—including the lives of folx who bear children and children themselves. Social constructs such as white supremacy, classism, patriarchy, and queer- and transphobia are active measures built to deny access to resources that these very same individuals and their children need to thrive, let alone survive.

​Within the past thirty to sixty days alone, this country has witnessed multiple mass murders, skyrocketing housing, fuel, and food costs, an increase in food deserts, and an enormous shortage of baby formula. In the US, preservation of human life has always been tied to situations and circumstances that are informed by the personal beliefs that have since proliferated throughout the socioeconomic systems that exist today. So, is the overturning of Roe v. Wade really a motion of virtue in the consideration of human life, or is it a desparate attempt to maintain cis-hetero white supremacist dominance and ensure future laborers through another person’s womb?

​In contrast, millions of people have taken to the streets to protest the recent ruling. Though we stand in solidarity with the pro-choice movement and fervently support body sovereignty, we must critique the queer and trans erasure at the foundation of pro-choice organizing. Much of the discourse and public outrage around overturning Roe v. Wade centers cisgender women’s right to choose, completely overlooking trans folx and their deservedness of the same autonomy, as well as access to abortion and reproductive care. For the queer and trans community, access to proper healthcare has been manufactured to be as difficult to attain as possible. From routine check-ups and specialized care to gender-affirming surgery, accessing healthcare in any capacity is a perpetually arduous task.

​As anti-LGBTQIA2S+ laws run rampant across the country, queer and trans erasure in rhetoric around body autonomomy, abortion, and reproductive care is a reminder that queer and trans folx are not considered and not wanted. PEOPLE deserve the right to choose. PEOPLE deserve access to proper reproductive care. If we are to say that abortion and reproductive rights are human rights, then we should be considering every human’s right to choose.

​After nearly 50 years, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned one of the most important and progressive federal protections in the country’s history, thereby violently unraveling the foundation of a multitude of rights promised to us by our VERY OWN CONSTITUTION. To be frank, we’re not entirely sure how legitimate “rights” can be in a nation built on stolen land by people who were kidnapped and enslaved. July 4th, the United States’ Independence Day, is less than a week away. How is it that a nation can celebrate its own independence when a portion of its people are forced into bondage? If this truly is “the land of the free,” then our leaders have a duty to question what freedom really is and to whom it is extended. Abortion and reproductive care are healthcare. Abortion and reproductive rights are human rights—a freedom that should be extended to everyone. Inclusive Guide stands for reproductive justice for all.

​Statements from within the Company
​“As a person adopted in the United States after 1973, I want to make sure I’m being abundantly clear when I say that adoption is not an alternative to abortion. Adoption when chosen is a brave decision that a birthing person makes to allow their child to be parented by a different family. Adoption is also often made by choice on the [part of the birthing parent]. This issue is also key to our consideration of bodily and familial autonomy and how we plan to support that. Abortion is healthcare and should be available safely and affordably to every person who finds themselves need to consider one. Regardless of the other [options] that may come available.”

Sources

​Edwards-Levy, Ariel. “Broad Majority of Americans Didn't Want Roe v. Wade Overturned, Polling Prior to Supreme Court Decision Shows | CNN Politics.” CNN, Cable News Network, 24 June 2022, https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/24/politics/americans-roe-v-wade-polling/index.html.

Rajkumar, Shruti. “With Roe v. Wade Overturned, Disabled People Reflect on How It Will Impact Them.” NPR, NPR, 25 June 2022, https://www.npr.org/2022/06/25/1107151162/abortion-roe-v-wade-overturned-disabled-people-reflect-how-it-will-impact-them.

“United States of America 1789 (Rev. 1992) Constitution.” Constitute, https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992.