Roe v Wade

Last week it was leaked that the Supreme Court had written a draft to overturn the Roe v. Wade case.  That was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1973 in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected a pregnant woman's liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.  When I first read the news, I thought it was a hoax.  More than one source, however, had followed up on the story and it really does look like the Court will overturn the decision this summer.  I was completely shocked.  I knew that several states had made their abortion laws stricter, but I never dreamed that in my lifetime, the decision would be overturned at the Federal level. 

My Dad asked me what I thought about the news when we were out to dinner last night.  I had given abortion a lot of thought over the years, so I was prepared with my answer right away.  In all honesty, I felt that a fetus was a baby.  We were told when I was pregnant with Cameron that once a baby in the womb reached nine weeks and had a heartbeat, there was a 95% chance of survival.  I did not think that I had the right to end that life.  In saying that I also didn't believe that I had a right to tell others what to do with their own body.  They had to make that decision for themselves.  What we all agreed on was that better education could help in preventing unwanted pregnancies in the first place.  I also added that I wished that adoption was seen as a better option than abortion. 

Today, I was completely taken off guard by some related news.  It seemed that several states were considering outlawing contraception.  That made no sense to me at all.  How could the government decide that a person would not be allowed to prevent unwanted pregnancies?  I couldn't rationalize that no matter how hard I tried.  I thought that maybe it was just an over sensationalized story that one news source picked up on, but Cal had heard the story as well.  He wondered what would happen to women who already had an IUD in place.  Would they forcibly remove them?  I never even thought about that.  It sure seems the world has been turned upside down these past two years.