Roe v. Wade

[jamiexo]

I am sure you all have heard by now through social media and many other outlets that the United States Supreme Court had recently made the decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that was made in 1973, which protected a pregnant woman's right to an abortion. Since this decision has been overturned, there have been endless protests and rallies of people that are on both sides of the decision... those that are furious that it was overturned, and those that are happy that Roe v. Wade was overturned.

So, my question to you, is where do you stand? What are your thoughts on Roe v. Wade being overturned?

THIS DEBATE CLOSES 31ST JULY AT 11:59PM BST!

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[-:Undertaker:-]

The reaction on social media to this ruling has been comical by people who have no idea what they're talking about. The judgement is a constitutional ruling, and comparisons to most other western European countries are invalid as most western nations are not federal republics. Most countries deal with abortion as a political issue via legislation and parliament, not as a "right" which people are wrongly claiming abortion is across European nations. Taking Britain as an example, abortion is guided by the Abortion Act of 1967 which has *nothing* to do with constitutional courts/rights and could be repealed tomorrow if Parliament so wished. It is no more a "right" than the Defence of the Realm Act (1914) or the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act (2022) are "rights". It is simple legislation.

The Supreme Court of the United States is supposed to interpret the U.S. Constitution and it says nothing about abortion in the constitution, therefore the current court was right to end Roe v Wade and hand the matter back to the states which can now decide this for themselves. No matter whether you're pro abortion or against abortion, or somewhere in the middle - it is surely proper and correct that political decisions such as this are decided by the people at state level and in elections rather than by activist judges of either left or right.

A reminder that if you *do* think courts should decide political issues, if the current U.S. Supreme Court took the same view that the court in 1973 did, that abortion was a matter to do with the constitution, then it could well be within its powers to decide to make abortion illegal across all 50 U.S. states. The lesson in this is don't use political courts to get your own way or you'll soon find yourself without democratic recourse should the composition of that court change.

[MadameJaquack]

I think a lot of people are seeing this purely from a political standpoint and, OF COURSE, it is exactly that but there's so much more to it.

Some people are (somehow) genuinely failing to see just how upsetting this is for women. Whether or not it directly impacts you, to know that ANYONE, let alone people that are held in such high regard as the *Supreme Court*, have the audacity to - and think it's right to - decide what a woman can or cannot do with her body is so so so sad and so so so disgusting. I don't want to go off on a whole "raging feminist rant" but it's so difficult to describe just how it feels to have someone else decide something like that for you. To feel that way... there are no words to describe it, it's a horrific feeling that I wouldn't wish on a single person. It makes you feel so unsafe and like you - and your thoughts, your feelings and your opinions - just don't matter. Just when it felt like things were moving forward something like this happens and to put it bluntly it absolutely sickens me. I read a news story yesterday that a 10 year old girl in Ohio was raped by a family member and refused an abortion. Luckily she managed to get to Indiana where she was given the medical treatment she needed, but that doesn't cover up how disgusting it is. She was 10 years old. She doesn't know how to raise a child, her body probably wouldn't even cope with growing and birthing a child. Yet there are still far too many people in this world that think the "life" of that fetus is so much more important than the poor 10. year. old. girl. that was forced to carry it. I know things like this quickly turn into a political debate of who's right and who's wrong but it's so so important to acknowledge people's emotions around this topic.

It's just sad. I struggle to even form coherent sentences on my feelings about the situation because it all just makes me so so sad.

[HotelUser]

I moved to the US almost a decade ago. I was shocked when Trump won in 2016 and I was shocked again when this ruling came to pass. Ignoring the flaws I see with the majority opinion on this case, as a practical result now half the country now has limited access to abortions.

26% of pregnancies result in miscarriages, so at best we've just inhibited providing proper care for these women and at worse they're going to be treated as suspicious for miscarrying. Several states also have no exceptions for rape or incest despite virtually the entire country being in favor of such exceptions. So scenarios like this one:

10-year-old rape victim forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion

The case of a 10-year-old child rape victim in Ohio who was six weeks pregnant, ineligible for an abortion in her own state, and forced to travel to Indiana for the procedure has spotlighted the shocking impact of the US supreme court ruling on abortion.

will become more and more common.

The credibility of the court should also be called into question because several of the justices lied under oath during their approval hearings to join the court when they said they wouldn't overturn roe, Justice Thomas appears to have been involved in a corruption scandal involving trump, and that's not to mention that both he and Kavanaugh were both accused of sexual assault. Certainly not the group of unelected individuals forcing this decision down on a population where over 60% disagree with the outcome.

[-:Undertaker:-]

@HotelUser;

I do not understand the argument that women may have to travel to have access to/be subjected to different laws. Is this not self-evident? The United States is a federal republic, and each state has a right to decide its own laws on political matters such as these. I could just as easily make an argument that it is unfair that the family of murder victims in say California have no right to seek the death penalty under California for the murderer, whereas in say Alabama they do.

I mean, are we proposing that all statehood should be abolished and the United States be run as a unitary state, like France?

[HotelUser]

@HotelUser;

I do not understand the argument that women may have to travel to have access to/be subjected to different laws. Is this not self-evident? The United States is a federal republic, and each state has a right to decide its own laws on political matters such as these. I could just as easily make an argument that it is unfair that the family of murder victims in say California have no right to seek the death penalty under California for the murderer, whereas in say Alabama they do.

I mean, are we proposing that all statehood should be abolished and the United States be run as a unitary state, like France?

I'm suggesting that abortion ought to be a right. No state can infringe upon the first amendment for example, but that doesn't make the United States a unitary state like France.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'm suggesting that abortion ought to be a right. No state can infringe upon the first amendment for example, but that doesn't make the United States a unitary state like France.

If you believe it should be a constitutional right then go and secure the two-thirds majority in the House or Senate, and the three-fourths of State Legislatures.

[HotelUser]

If you believe it should be a constitutional right then go and secure the two-thirds majority in the House or Senate, and the three-fourths of State Legislatures.

working on it