Abortion

Laws:
Your Body,
Not Your Choice
By: Nicole Pomerleau
 “No woman can call herself
free who does not control
her own body”
Margaret Sanger

On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court voted to

overturn Roe v. Wade (1973) and undo 50 years of
legal protection by leaving the legality of abortion up
to the State.

In the 1960s, abortion was illegal in most states; there

were no exceptions in the case of rape or a threat to
life. However, more and more babies were born with
serious birth defects. At this point, people began to
discuss abortion and how the procedure should be
seen. It was agreed upon that abortion should be
treated like any other medical procedure. It is the
patient’s choice.
When the Supreme Court was presented with Roe v.
Wade in 1973, the judges decided that the 14th
Amendment’s implied right to privacy protected abortion
as a fundamental right. For the next 50 years, at the most
basic definition, abortion was legal in every state.
Since 1975, Americans have been voting annually to share
their thoughts on abortion. The chart below shows the
first two and the last two years recorded for this poll.
Over the years, the number of people that believe
abortion should be legal in all circumstances has been
slowly increasing and now makes up roughly ⅓ of the
polled population. Additionally, fewer people are
recording no opinion and illegal in all circumstances.
Just under half of the polled population believes that
abortion should be legal in certain circumstances.
The only alternative to abortion is childbirth. Compared to
abortion, childbirth is 14 times more likely to result in
death. By leaving the decision up to elected officials, some
women are being forced to put themselves at medical risk.
In addition to women needing abortions to save their lives,
there are women who became pregnant in unfortunate
circumstances and women who are not financially stable
enough to provide a good life for the baby. As seen in the
chart below, 13 states have fully banned abortion and
made the procedure illegal. Of the remaining 37 states, 19
states have placed various limits on the procedure. For
some states, abortion becomes illegal at 6 weeks, 15 weeks
or 22 weeks. Other states make abortion illegal after
viability or the gestation period. In humans the gestation
period is the time between conception and birth, which
falls between 37 and 40 weeks.
Before Roe v. Wade (1973) was overturned, people
resorted to abortions for any number of reasons. Some
women said babies would drastically change their lives,
while others could not afford a baby at the time
(married or unmarried). For the women that were
unmarried, some feared single parenthood. Women that
were having marital problems did no want to bring a
child into the world with the burden of trying to keep a
marriage from falling apart. Other women believe that a
child could interfere with their careers and/or school, or
they do not think they are mature enough to raise a
child. At any point in her life, a woman may have felt
any or all of these reasons to not have a child.
The chart below shows the number of each method of birth
control dispensed in relation to other methods broken
down by tier from the 2003 fiscal year to the 2015 fiscal
year. Tier 1 (most effective) is categorized as sterilization,
intrauterine contraceptive (IUC) and implants. Tier 2
(moderately effective) is injection, oral contraceptives
(OC), patch, ring and diaphragm. Tier 3 (least effective) is
barrier methods and emergency contraception (ECP).
People that did not use a method of birth control were also
recorded.
Tier 2, by far, had the highest number of users followed
by ‘no method provided.’ This could be for a number of
reasons. First is availability. Some women may not be
available to the same resources as other women; they
may not have the means to receive methods of birth
control. Another reason is financial. Any form of birth
control can be fairly expensive. For the women that
cannot have a child because of their financial situation
may not be able to receive an effective form of birth
control for the same reasons. Birth control users have
to keep making payments in order to continue
receiving the chosen method. Abortions are a one time
payment.

Abortion is a very common precedure. Roughly one out

of four women will receive an abortion by the time they
are 45. The two main kinds of abortion are an in-clinic
abortion and the abortion pill. Abortion services
include abortion referral, abortion pill (medical
abortion), in-clinic abortion procedures, sedation
options, post-abortion follow-up examt, etc. At any
point in her life, a woman can utilize any one of these
services for a number of personal reasons. As shown is
the graphic below, the largest age group to receive an
abortion related service is women between the ages of
20 and 24 followed by women 25 to 29.
The most concerning data point, while seemingly not as
significant, is the 15 and under age group. For any number
of reasons, these children got pregnant. This data was
collected between 2014 and 2020, so the births may not have
happened; however, after Roe v. Wade was overturned
these children would be forced to carry a baby full term.
Not only would this be traumatic as such a young age, but
this would change the course of their lives. Schooling could
be effected as well as careers. Some women, of any age, are
very happy when they have a child, but others may not be
ready. Ultimately, the decision to have a child should be left
up to the woman. A child should have have to be born into a
world that is not ready for it.
Women have been fighting for decade for the right over
their own bodies. Why should this continue? Abortion is
a very personal choice. Every woman can be at any
stage of her life and either be ready for a child or she
will not be. Every choice depends on a woman’s own
situation and personal beliefs. This is her body, it should
also be her choice.
 References
“2021/W36: What Do Americans Think about Abortion? – Dataset by
Makeovermonday.” data.world, September 5, 2021.
https://data.world/makeovermonday/2021w36.

“Abortion-Related Services Funded by Medi-Cal, Calend… 2014 –

Dataset by CHHS.” data.world, February 3, 2022.
https://data.world/chhs/04ccec8c-17ca-4659-9001-f7e4ffa8604b.

“Family Planning Methods by Effectiveness for Female Clients –

Dataset by CHHS.” data.world, June 5, 2020.
https://data.world/chhs/3e5d45be-b4fb-4ef1-a20a-c461ef696b9e.

Housman, Patty. “Roe v Wade Overturned: What It Means, What’s

Next.” American University, June 29, 2022.
https://www.american.edu/cas/news/roe-v-wade-overturned-what-
it-means-whats-next.cfm.

The New York Times. “Tracking the States Where Abortion Is Now
Banned.” The New York Times. The New York Times, May 24, 2022.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-
wade.html.

“Roe v. Wade and Supreme Court Abortion Cases.” Brennan Center

for Justice, December 9, 2022. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-
work/research-reports/roe-v-wade-and-supreme-court-abortion-
cases.

Photos Alex Green (Pexels), Brett Sayles (Pexels), Derek French

(Pexels), Karolina Grabowska (Pexels)