A Complete Breakdown: Roe v. Wade Overturned

What Did Roe v Wade Protect?

Roe v Wade (1973) protects a pregnant woman's right to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Along with that, it set standards for healthcare privacy, general privacy, and the right to choose whether to stay pregnant or not. Though, this decision made it so that it was only legal to choose to terminate a pregnancy up until the point of fetal viability, which was about 28 weeks at the time. In the article What Privacy in The United States Could Look Like Without Roe v Wade by Caitlyn Chin, the implications of not having these protections are further investigated.

"Numerous popular consumer devices and mobile apps collect an enormous amount of sensitive personal information from users—including precise geolocation, browsing or internet activity, search history, private communications, social media posts, photos, videos, financial transactions, and more—which would allow developers, data aggregators, advertisers, and other third parties to infer pregnancy status. In many cases, this information may be used for targeted advertisements for pregnancy or baby-related products. But more consequentially, it could also facilitate a digital paper trail for law enforcement to compile evidence against individuals who choose to have an abortion. Law enforcement agencies frequently access data held by private companies through a variety of mechanisms, which include legal requests (e.g., warrants, subpoenas, court orders) or voluntary sales, dramatically expanding the government’s scope and resources to conduct surveillance." (Chin, What privacy in the United States could look like without Roe v. Wade).

Along with the privacy aspect, Roe v Wade set it as a national precedent that women have the right to terminate their pregnancy. With the decision being overturned, states now have the right to make the decision.

This infographic made by the Guttmacher Institute shows how geographic location will affect the right to abortion in a Post-Roe America. To explain this graphic, I'll be breaking down what each color actually means.

If you live in the following states, abortion access will be dissolved in your state immediately.

- Arkansas

- Idaho

- Kentucky

- Louisiana

- Mississippi

- Missouri

- North Dakota

- Oklahoma

- South Dakota

- Tennessee

- Texas

- Utah

- Wyoming

If you live in the following states, a ban is likely coming, or bans are still being revised

- Alabama

- June 24th, 2022: Abortion is banned, except in cases of life endangerment and the health of the patient. (State facts about abortion: Alabama 2022).

- Georgia (six-week abortion ban expected to take effect very soon.)

- Indiana

- Iowa

- Ohio

- South Carolina

- West Virginia

If you live in the following states, abortion accessibility/rights are uncertain or up for debate.

- Arizona

- Florida

- Kansas

- Minnesota

- Montana

- Nebraska

- North Carolina

- Pennsylvania

- Virginia

- Wisconsin

If you live in the following states, your right to an abortion is highly likely to remain legal, but not guaranteed forever.

- Alaska

- California

- Colorado

- Connecticut

- Delaware

- Hawaii

- Illinois

- Maine

- Maryland

- Massachusetts

- Minnesota

- New Hampshire

- New Jersey

- New Mexico

- New York

- Nevada

- Oregon

- Rhode Island

- Vermont

- Washington

You may have noticed that the number of states where abortion is likely to remain legal is more frequent than the number of states where it is certain to be illegal, but that does not account for how many people will be geographically disadvantaged. Many of the states where abortion is expected to remain legal are small in size and far from the states where abortion will be inaccessible. Therefore, people struggling financially will not be able to cover an abortion cost on top of travel expenses. Gas across the United States at this time, late June 2022, is incredibly expensive, costing many Americans from $4 to $6 a gallon. This is what Roe v Wade protected us from. Roe v Wade made it a precedent right for all Americans to have the right, and liberty, to access abortion. In 1973, it was decided that abortion was nobody else's business other than the woman and her healthcare provider. The federal government protected this, not only for women's rights but for privacy rights. The right to an abortion was considered a personal freedom, one that was simply your business. On top of that, it provided privacy in bed, privacy regarding menstrual issues, and women's healthcare in general.

There is also a concern, now that Roe v Wade has been overturned, regarding the right to use contraceptives. According to Kelly Wairimu Davis, MS , Damian McNamara, MA in Roe v. Wade's Pending Fall Raises Privacy Concerns, the general protections that Roe v Wade provided are now- as the decision as been overturned- into question.

"The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures.

To acquire cyber data that could be used as evidence in courts in states where abortion has been deemed a crime, prosecutors would still have to go through standard criminal procedures, says Anthony Michael Kreis, JD, a constitutional law professor at Georgia State University.

But the data they do get could still be used in court against someone who is suspected of having had an abortion or who 'miscarried under circumstances law enforcement officers found suspicious,' Kreis says.

And there’s another possibility, he says: states holding women who end their pregnancies criminally or civilly responsible for “leaving their jurisdiction to obtain an abortion out-of-state.'

'That legal mechanism may abridge the constitutional right to travel, but it is not out of the realm of possibilities in a post-Roe America,' says Kreis.

But while many anti-abortion groups have said that criminalizing abortion or limiting access to contraception is not the end goal, 'history is not promising here,' says Ellen Wright Clayton, MD, JD, a professor of pediatrics and professor of law at Vanderbilt University.

She refers to a recent proposal from lawmakers in Louisiana to classify abortion as homicide. The bill didn’t get far in the House of Representatives, but the concern is warranted, says Clayton." (Davis & McNamara, Roe v. Wade's pending fall raises privacy concerns).

So, now that Roe v Wade has been overturned, we are not only facing states having the right to make laws regarding abortion. The following aspects, direct and indirect, were protected rights under Roe and are now up for question by individual states:

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This is why Roe was such an important precedent. It primarily protected women's reproductive rights in healthcare but also protected healthcare privacy rights for all. That is worth genuine concern, for all of us.

Pro-Choice vs Pro-Life

Understanding Human Consciousness & Fetal Development

Implications of Reversing Roe v Wade

Separation Between Church and State

Conclusion

Works Cited