Financial status, physical health, mental state, support system, the plans they have for their futures. These are just a few of the many factors women consider when making a choice. Maybe one of the most important choices of their lives. 

The choice of having an abortion or continuing with their pregnancy.

Abortion has forever been a controversial, sensitive topic.  Now, it is on the verge of being banned in states across the country.

It is the woman’s decision. Not her family’s, not her community’s, and especially not the decision of strangers on the internet. Ultimately, the choice affects one person and one person only: the woman making it. 

Roe v. Wade was a monumental decision made by the US Supreme Court in 1973. The court came to the conclusion that during the first trimester of pregnancy, a state may not regulate the abortion decision; only the woman and her attending physician can make that choice.

Roe v. Wade gave women the right to choose. Now, 47 years later, this right is under attack. 

In May of 2019, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed the “heartbeat bill” into law, banning abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Louisiana, Alabama, Ohio and Missouri have also passed similar laws. 

There are no exceptions to this law. Not even for victims of rape or incest. The consequences for a doctor who performs an abortion in violation of the law vary from state to state but the most damaging are in Alabama where any doctor who performs an abortion with disregard to the fetal heartbeat could face anywhere between 10 and 99 years in prison.

These laws have yet to be enacted because they’ve been challenged in court again and again. Soon, the US Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the “heartbeat bill”. With more conversative justices than ever, these laws could very well be ruled as constitutional which will overturn Roe v. Wade. 

There are so many things that are incredibly wrong with this.

As much as people promote birth control and abstinence, there will be pregnancies that cannot be prevented and that aren’t expected. Birth control isn’t perfect. The woman can do everything right and still be left with unintended consequences. 

This right to choose helps the lives of so many women and, in turn, make the lives of the children who are born so much better. Women look critically at the life of their future child and determine whether or not now is a good time to continue with their pregnancy. In many cases, continuing with pregnancy wouldn’t be fair to neither the mother nor her future child. 

If she isn’t emotionally stable enough to raise a kid or doesn’t have the money to support one, then she shouldn’t be forced to continue with pregnancy. A woman should have the opportunity to go to college, pursue a career, or live her life the way she wants to. Sometimes, having a child prevents her from living the life she wants, needs or deserves. 

In an ideal world, every child would be wanted, every child would have a bed and warm food, every child would have a loving family. Unfortunately, this isn’t an ideal world. According to CNN, there are 13.1 million kids in the United States who live in a household that isn’t secure when it comes to food, as of 2015. 

In the end, a woman’s choice doesn’t hurt you in any way whatsoever. Your life will continue on just the way it is. Nothing will change. You won’t suffer from the choice made so why bother taking the choice away?  The Supreme Court needs to remember that a child has a life outside it’s mother and that women have lives of their own. The Supreme Court needs to protect Roe V. Wade. The Supreme Court needs to protect a woman’s choice.