Will My Daughter Grow Up with My Same Freedoms?
How the overturning of Roe vs. Wade is making me rethink where I live
At forty-eight years old, I had my first child, a daughter. Two years later Roe versus Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. I knew this essential human right was in peril the minute we lost Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court in 2020, and in an election year, President Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate rammed Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the highest court in the land with lightning speed and efficiency.
However, the truth did not sink in until that fateful day on June 24, 2022, when the court’s ruling was announced.
Overnight, conservative pro-life legislation limiting or outlawing abortion passed in haste in some States, leading up to the landmark Dobbs decision, suddenly became the law of the land. Now sixteen states have almost total bans on abortion in effect primarily in the South and Midwest making access to abortion almost impossible unless a woman has the means to travel out of state.
These laws also make it difficult if not impossible for a woman to access an abortion in these states in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. A fellow Medium writer, John Welford — Medium, just wrote an article on this, that got me thinking about this topic.
My plan has always been to move away from New York City one day to the warmer climates of the South. However, most of the States that I would have considered moving to now have extremely restrictive abortion laws in place including South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Can I in good conscious now move my young daughter to a U.S. State that does not respect the right of my daughter to control her own body? Can I morally move her to a State that would force her to have the baby of her rapist?
For women like me, it feels like in two years, we have created another dividing line between North and South where rights are different. This one is based on gender instead of color. I am already reading about not-for-profit organizations mobilizing to help poor women without the means to obtain abortions out of State get one.
The most restrictive States, like Texas, are even considering laws that would prosecute a woman or any individual who helps a woman obtain an abortion out of state!
Do we have to create a new Underground Railroad to help these women obtain the support they would not otherwise receive?
Must I raise my daughter only in the Northeast or West Coast so she can have the same rights I have had since I was one year old?
While the current situation seems dire, there is some hope that these abortion restrictions will be reversed or at least softened one day.
In May 2023, Gallup conducted a national survey on abortion and published the following results:
· 61% of Americans say overturning Roe versus Wade was a “bad thing”.
· 69% of Americans support abortion without constraints in the first trimester (thirteen weeks).
· 52% of Americans consider themselves “pro-choice” while 44% consider themselves “pro-life”.
· 63% support the legality of the abortion pill mifepristone.
This polling suggests the conservative legislators in these states are out of touch with the majority of Americans, and this has played out in some recent grass-roots efforts. Abortion rights organizations are mobilizing support to place constitutional referendums up for vote in the U.S. States with restrictive abortion laws or where abortion law is at risk.
It all started with a special election in 2022 in Kansas where the electorate was asked to pass a referendum that would have allowed the legislature to overturn a state Supreme Court decision that ruled the Kansas constitution protects the right to abortion.
59% of voters turned down this referendum.
Since that special election, there have been six additional states (California, Vermont, Montana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio) whose voters have either turned down abortion restriction referendums or voted for abortion protections. In 2024, abortion could be on the ballot in New York, Maryland, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
For now, I have decided to stay in New York where my daughter’s rights will be protected. However, I am hopeful, that more of the country will reject severe abortion measures and more conservative legislators will follow the will of the people.
I am willing to seek compromise in legislation or a constitutional amendment that limits abortions to three-four months as long as the exceptions of rape, incest and health of the mother remain in place.
However, I am unwilling to compromise the future, health, safety, and mental wellness of my daughter to see her forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term that could have been the result of rape or could adversely impact her physical or mental wellbeing.
References:
With Roe overturned, which states have banned abortion? : Shots — Health News : NPR