While America’s A-listers were dressed up to the nines at the Met Gala, the rest of the country was torn away from the world of Gilded Glamour and brought back to reality. On May 2, 2022, a leaked document from the Supreme Court detailing their plans to overturn the over 50-year-old Roe v. Wade case made its way into the hands of the public. This news brings worry and fear to the women of the United States, whose fundamental rights are in jeopardy. 

The Roe v. Wade case of 1973 ruled that the Constitution protects a woman’s right to have an abortion without government interference. While many states still have some abortion restrictions, like Texas and their Heartbeat Bill, which states abortion is illegal starting six weeks after conception, states cannot outright ban abortion altogether. However, over the years, Roe v. Wade has been faced with protestors who claim that abortion is not outlined in the Constitution, it goes against the Bible, or that it is “murdering” an unborn child. The issue with their reasoning is that whether or not someone else gets an abortion is none of their business. People against abortions do not have to get one if they are pregnant, but that does not mean no one else should be able to. They can claim that abortion was not written in the Constitution by the founders, but neither was women’s suffrage and gay marriage, yet these amendments were added afterwards. They can claim that abortion is inhumane when in reality, that “child” is nothing more than a clump of cells. The health of the person carrying the baby should be prioritized, especially when their life could be put in danger by going through with the pregnancy. 

While sometimes the expectant parent knows that they cannot handle a baby and therefore has an abortion, that is not the only reason. Some women cannot physically carry a child without putting their health in jeopardy. An unborn child should not be prioritized over a mother who might die from the trauma of childbirth. Where does that leave the baby once it is born? Without a mother, but protected by the government. 

While Pro-lifers insist that the lives of unborn children must be protected, that protection suddenly doesn’t matter once they are born, as seen in the abundance of school shootings in America, most recently the Uvalde shooting on May 24th with 21 casualties, 19 of them being elementary school children. This is even more evidence that the argument is not about the children; it is about the control of women. Stripping women of such a fundamental right puts their lives and humanity in danger. Without the ability to make independent decisions, can someone even be considered a member of society?