A Woman's Right

 

I was laying on the crunchy sheets with my heels touching each other and knuckles under my butt,
 as instructed. The nurse thoughtfully had the foot of the bed turned to face the wall, creating a sense of privacy despite the walls being cloth curtains in emergency ward. The physician quietly described his next move during the procedure; He leaned in close to me so my neighbours couldn’t hear what was going on in the room next to them, whispering words such as ‘pressure’ and ‘slight discomfort’. The nurse pulled my knee towards her so the doctor could gain more accessibly, telling me to practice my yoga breathing as the worst of it came and then went. I could feel his large fingers handling my uterus in order to ensure that all went well. With this sort of incident, he was confident my blood pressure would come back to normal, something that is always on my mind with having to manage my high blood pressure since the spring of 2021. Despite the high level of empathy, understanding and attempted ease the nurse and male physician provided me when taking out my malfunctioning IUD on a Wednesday evening, it was still horrible.

Thanks to Row vs. Wade, every American has the right to seek an abortion, with some regulations permitting, of course. In 1970 Jane Roe fought against Henry Wade, a district attorney in Texas, when she was denied to have an abortion. At the time, all abortions were illegal in Texas unless it was done to save the mother’s life. There were no exceptions. The ruling made by the Supreme Court determined that all Americans, pregnant women included, have the right to privacy, under the first section of the fourteenth amendment. It was determined that during a pregnant person’s first trimester, the state cannot regulate abortion, essentially women are free to make their choice. During the second trimester, an abortion is allowed if it’s reasonably related to the health of a pregnant person. For the third trimester, the protection of human life outweighs the right to privacy, and the state can prohibit abortions unless an abortion is necessary to save the life of the pregnant person.

Today, in Canada, medical abortion (the abortion pill) is available until nine weeks of gestation (within the first
trimester). Surgical abortion is legal before 24 weeks, beyond this the individual would need to travel to the United States. In Canada, finding a facility to perform abortion beyond 12 weeks is incredibly difficult. Keep in mind, 95% of abortions performed in Canada are done in the first trimester.

The importance of Roe V. Wade, isn’t so much the legalization of abortion, but the ability for a state to regulate abortions. With this ruling, each individual residing in any state in America has the protection of Roe, but the state is free create more protection and access that was Row provides. This is the same as Canada. 

On Monday, May 2^nd there was a leak from the Supreme Court’s draft opinion on Roe v. Wade in that the majority wants to overthrow the abortion rights. This indicates that soon, it will no longer be the federal government that determines the right to have an abortion, but each state will individually make the rules as they see fit. It’s estimated that 23 states can regulate abortions as they see fit, which means possibly outlawing them altogether.

Let’s just be clear, this will not stop abortions, only safe abortions. Women will endure hell and high water to survive, and sometimes this survival and enhanced quality of life means making the impossible decision of terminating a pregnancy. Whether it be driving hundreds of miles to end up in a state that still supports the right of a woman and her body, and provides safe abortions, or the fear and grotesque idea of reverting back a century where abortions were performed in secrecy and unsafely in unsanitary locations performed by unknowing hands. The decision to have an abortion is done because it outweighs the unconceivable idea of having a child, which could be based on so many reasons. Reasons such as medical, for the child or the mother, safety, choosing the life of the mother over the child, the inability to raise a child or quite simply not wanting to have a child.

Regardless of the reasons, and to be clear an explanation is not needed to justify the decision, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not simply an impromptu and nonchalant decision, it’s a last resource. No guilt a third party can place on that person will ever outweigh the guilt they bring upon and carry themselves. It's still their right decision.

Having a baby should be a choice, not the consequence of birth control failing or failing to use birth
control. Having a child is not a punishment – because the decision to have a child is never an easy one, and the decision have an abortion is even harder. If you are against abortions, and encourage women to have a child, without wanting to have one, what kind of mother are you yourself encouraging?

Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in America called Planned Parenthood. This was a women’s revolution all on its own. Finally, women were able to plan and space pregnancies, or not be pregnant at all.

The potential overthrow of Roe v. Wade doesn’t just effect abortions, it could snowball the overthrow of other protective laws, such as the right to contraception, which was the outcome of the Grisworld v. Connecticut case. Estelle Grisworld, the head of planned parenthood in Connecticut, fought against the law passed in Connecticut in 1879 that banned the use of drugs, medical procedures and other instruments as a means of contraception. She argued that it was a violation of the fourteenth amendment – the very same amendment in the Constitution of the United States. And she won. But, one overthrown law, such as Roe v. Wade and the right to abortion weakens other laws which used the same amendment to provide this right to an American.

For me, contraception provides me with the freedom of my sexual life without having the consequence of becoming a mother at the age of seventeen or at the age of thirty-four. It makes having a child a decision to be made within the next year or so, so I can now focus on my career, traveling and my happiness.

I thank science for the invention of contraception, physicians for performing abortions and the women’s movement who paved the way. As a Canadian, the idea that the right to have an abortion can so easily be undone in the United States is simply terrifying. We are so closely tied to our southern friends, that the thought of the impossible become possible in Canada, is all too real.

That evening in the emergency room, when the physician covered up my splayed legs with a scratchy blanket, I exhaled deeply. Despite, the kindness and professionalism the doctor showed that night, while being hands deep inside me, it still felt like a violation. As I left the emergency room without my IUD I felt like I lost a long time friend, a reliable means of contraception and allowing me control over my life. I shuttered to think what one had to go though, both mentally and physically, to make the decision have an abortion.

Kirstin

May we raise strong women, when we want to and if we want to.

UPDATE: June 25th

It's my body and my right to seek an abortion if I so desire to. 

I woke up to the news that the US Supreme Court voted 5-4 to overthrow the Roe V. Wade ruling that gave women the right to access abortion. Nearly half the states will follow through to ban or severally restrict right to abortions. I am so angry. And I'm so worried that Canada will follow suit.

So I'll say it again:

It's my body and my right to seek an abortion if I so wish to.

Say. It. Again.  

Reference Material:

Roe v. Wade: The states where abortion rights will be protected if case is overturned - CNN

The impact of Roe v Wade on global abortion rights | MSI Reproductive Choices (msichoices.org)

Teaching About the Supreme Court - Educators 4 Social Change (educators4sc.org)

Griswold v. Connecticut (plannedparenthoodaction.org)

Access at a Glance: Abortion Services in Canada | Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights (actioncanadashr.org)