Weedsport Students Share Views on Roe v. Wade

A first draft document leaked and published by Politico on May 2nd, shows the beginning process of dismantling Roe v. Wade. Passed in 1973, the ruling has been protecting a woman’s right to choose for over 40 years. The Johnny Green sat down with Senior Class Officer Allie House, and another Weedsport student who asked to remain anonymous, to discuss the impending withdrawal of Roe v. Wade. 

When speaking with House, we first wanted to get her opinions on abortion. “I believe abortion is a hard topic for many people to grasp. I have never heard of a woman going to get an abortion out of enjoyment, only necessity. Abortion is about more than “killing babies,” it is about preserving one’s bodily autonomy, as well as preventing a potential life from entering a family or situation that would harm them. Forcing a person to keep a baby they cannot provide for, whether financially, physically, or emotionally, is detrimental to both the fetus and the woman carrying it. Abortion should be accessible for all people at all times, and viewing it as anything other than a necessity is naive” House stated. 

The other student seems to have the opposite opinion. When asked the question above, they stated, “I think abortion is a necessary practice, but I don’t like the idea of people using it willy nilly. I think that it should only be used in cases if the woman’s life is in danger, cases of rape, and/or incest. I think if you don’t want to have a kid, don’t have sex in the first place. But I also understand that it’s much easier for a man to abandon their children than a woman considering they don’t have to carry it around for 9 months.” 

In an article by the New York Times, 13 states would immediately move to ban abortions, and 10 states would be most likely to see change once the redaction is official. 16 states, including New York, are said to be safe no matter the decision. All other states are up in the air. 

We asked both parties how they think the overturning of Roe v. Wade will affect women and our country overall. The anonymous student is not only worried about women when it comes to this decision, but how it will affect men as well. “Roe v. Wade’s overturn is way bigger than just abortion. Women are going to experience most of the ill effects of this decision but men have a good chance of being affected as well. Roe v. Wade is mistakenly categorized as an abortion case, but in all actuality, it’s about the right to privacy. And the privacy of medical information is extremely important not only to just abortion.”

When asked what House thinks the ban on abortions will do, she stated, “The overturning of Roe v Wade opens the door for so many rights violations. Living in a blue state, I don’t expect to see the effects of it being overturned anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned for others. In overturning Roe v. Wade, many other cases were mentioned including cases that have to do with: contraceptives and their accessibility, healthcare privacy, healthcare for gay people, and porn possession. Overturning Roe v Wade isn’t just an attack on abortion, it is an attack on the privacy of any minority. For women specifically, it will lead to the increased traumatization and reduction of rights. Even before Roe v Wade had begun to be overturned, we saw cases where women who experienced miscarriages were being tried for murder. Things like period tracking apps or conversations with gynecologists will no longer be private and are at risk of being accessed by law enforcement and our government.”

According to a survey done by The Washington Post in late April, 54% of people believe Roe v. Wade should be upheld. 70% of people who took the survey also believe that the decision should be left up to the person and their doctor. Though it appears that the majority of people hold this opinion, the Supreme Court still decided to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

When asked her opinion on this, House stated, “I believe Roe v Wade is being overturned now because conservatives are trying to reestablish power. We are seeing birth rates go down in America, an increased amount of women in positions of power, Black Americans accumulating more wealth, and red states turning blue during essential elections. All this combined leads to banning abortions being the quickest way to reverse this. Decreased birth rates are bad for the economy as we will see a lessened workforce and fewer products being bought. Keeping women out of positions of power will allow men to remain in positions of power. Forcing impoverished (especially impoverished POC) to go through with unwanted pregnancies keeps them impoverished. When all is said and done, the overturning of Roe v Wade is not about “protecting the lives of babies,” it is a power play by people who have the resources to continue getting abortions if the occasion called for it.” 

The other student poses a different question, finding the timing of the decision to be odd. “I genuinely have no idea, I thought the Democratic majorities in congress, as well as the Democrat president, wouldn’t let something like this happen. They are not the final say in any of this but it feels weird in such a Democratic majority in our government.”

The World Health Organization states only 29% of all pregnancies end in abortions. 45% of abortions are unsafe, a majority of these in developing countries. They say that the restrictions on safe and accessible abortions will lead to an increase in unsafe abortions, not necessarily a decrease. We asked House what her biggest fear is if the Supreme Court continues on this path. “My biggest fear for Roe v. Wade is what impregnated people will begin doing to themselves to get access to abortions. It’s been said before and it’ll be said again- you can’t ban abortions, only safe abortions.”

We asked the other student why they believe the Supreme Court would overturn it now and what would be the impact, despite the evidence given by WHO. In response, they stated, “I think the idea is to leave it up to the states, but at the same time every state was a little different with abortion anyway, so this kinda over complicated the issue of getting one at all.”

Finally, we asked both parties why this is an important student issue. Though this topic seems bigger than us, most feel like there is no way to make a lasting impact, it is still a young person’s issue. To this question, The student stated, “I think it’s good for everybody to be involved and understand their government, but I think that high schoolers specifically are fully capable of understanding these issues, but it takes real world experience around the issue to truly understand. And we will only understand that as we get older and experience the real world.” 

In opposition, House said, “I do think that Roe v Wade should be discussed in schools. Students are legal adults when leaving high school, meaning they can vote for our representatives. If we send out students without awareness of these issues how can we expect them to act and push for change?”