T
he Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade was a turning point in US history—a celebratory moment where freedom triumphed and the fundamental human rights of bodily autonomy and personal choice were extended to Americans with uteruses. The landmark decision has been one of great controversy, with efforts to overturn it starting from the time of the ruling. The confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, likely cementing a conservative Supreme Court majority for a generation, intensifies that threat. Abortion access is just one of many issues in danger—the Court’s majority also threatens LGBTQ+ rights, the Affordable Care Act, birth control access, worker protections, and environmental conservation. It’s hard to imagine life without Roe's protections. It did much more than federally protect the right to abortion—it revolutionized gender relations and restructured American society. Life pre-Roe was defined by severe restrictions on women, including a lack of constitutionally protected patient–physician privacy and a lack of liberty to determine personal destiny. With that restriction came inherent second-class status, threats of bodily harm, and often death from unsafe, illegal
abortions. Roe also directly impacts many transgender and gender-nonconforming people who are often erased from the conversation surrounding abortion rights. The argument against Roe usually falls along religious (often Christian) lines based on a subjective morality that resonates with only a minority of Americans. Indeed, over 60 percent of Americans believe it should be legal in all or most cases. Those who are pro-choice herald abortion rights as fundamental, while those who are anti-choice—the term “pro-life” being misleading and based on propaganda—deem it a sin. But a safe and legal abortion is a human right; the freedom to choose the fate of your body inherently differentiates between freedom and oppression. The UN Human Rights Committee affirms that abortion is a human right and that restricting such access violates the right to life. Reproductive rights are human rights. While Roe has been under attack for decades, the Trump administration ushered in an era of renewed action against reproductive rights. In 2016, then-candidate Trump explicitly outlined his anti-abortion beliefs and intention to appoint “pro-life” justices to
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the Supreme Court, and he followed through. Today, Roe is more of a symbol of federally ensured equality than a guarantee for reproductive justice. The decision has come to represent autonomy beyond the right to abortion—it represents freedom and gender equality more broadly. In 1992, Planned Parenthood v. Casey became the controlling precedent on abor-
Roe did much more than federally protect the right to abortion—it revolutionized gender relations and restructured American society.
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tion. It upheld Roe’s core right to abortion but simultaneously granted states new power to restrict the procedure. The biggest threats to abortion access today are these state-level restrictions and the defunding of organizations dedicated to reproductive justice, such as Planned Parenthood. Since Casey, but especially in the last decade,
