Today is the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. Before Roe v. Wade abortion was considered an invasion of personal freedom, and women risked their lives in order to end unwanted pregnancies.
Unfortunately, access to abortion has been recently threatened by the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, enacted under the Bush Administration in 2003, which outlaws a certain type of abortion procedure and limits when it can be performed during a woman’s pregnancy. This ban attempts to strip women of their freedom of choice and body autonomy by chipping away at their access to a legal abortion.
The abortion debate insinuates that women are not able to make decisions for themselves. Is it fair that the majority of legal conversations about abortion rarely include women’s voices? A woman’s choice about whether or not to be a mother is one of the most profound of all life choices and needs to be protected and accessible to every woman!
Roe v. Wade was a crucial victory for women in the U.S. and deserves to be protected, commemorated and appreciated. So, as we celebrate the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, let us remember how it was before 1973. And let us never go back to that time when women were forced into unsafe situations in order to take control of their own destinies!
Abby Diskin
University student