Civic Register
| 12.1.21
What Happens if Roe v. Wade Is Overturned?
Do you want the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade?
What’s the story?
- On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of a 2018 Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
- Along with deciding whether to uphold the ban, the justices have also been asked to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide prior to fetal viability, about 24 weeks into pregnancy.
- While the official decision will likely not be made until June, a majority of justices have signaled that they will at least uphold the Mississippi law.
- Experts say this decision could effectively overturn Roe v. Wade by erasing viability as the cut-off line for legal abortions.
- What would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned?
A shift to the states
- Without Roe, the constitutional right to obtain an abortion would be gone.
- However, ending Roe wouldn’t end abortion – or the fight over abortion – in America. Rather, a repeal of the landmark decision would shift the battle from federal to state courts.
- States would need to pass regulations about when, where, and under what circumstances women could access abortions.
- As the Cincinnati Enquirer put it:
“Those on both sides of the debate say the result would be a patchwork of new laws, with some states enacting outright bans, others setting tougher restrictions, and still others maintaining the status quo.”
At least 21 states poised to effectively ban abortion
- 12 states have approved what are known as “trigger laws” that would ban abortion the moment SCOTUS overturns Roe.
- Nine states whose bans on abortion were ended by Roe but never removed would likely see those pre-Roe bans reinstated.
- At least five additional states - Florida, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming - would be highly likely to implement abortion bans if Roe was overturned.
- Abortion would remain legal in at least twelve states, including California and Maryland which have laws explicitly protecting the right for women to obtain an abortion.
- A unique Texas law that bans abortions after 6 weeks by calling on private citizens to enforce the law is currently being considered by the Supreme Court, but is still able to be implemented while under legal review. Other states have indicated intent to introduce similar legislation, including Florida.
- Forty-three states have passed limits on abortions, and six states are down to one provider.
Crossing state lines
- Overturning Roe would likely create a network where women living in states that ban abortions would have to travel hundreds of miles or more to find a clinic across state lines. Evidence has already shown an increase in women traveling to other states to obtain abortions as a result of Texas’ recent ban.
- This could give rise to more groups like Fund Texas Choice, a nonprofit that arranges and funds travel for women seeking abortions in the restrictive Lone Star State.
- However, the L.A. Times explained that “women in conservative states who couldn’t afford to travel to places where abortion was legal would be most at risk, experts in abortion law say.”
Doctors and pregnant women could be subject to criminal prosecution
- Those unable to travel for abortions could turn to doctors willing to illegally perform the procedure in their state.
- Several states have laws stating that doctors who provide abortions illegally would risk hefty fines and prison sentences, as could the women who obtained them.
- “Police used to go into the hospitals and emergency rooms trying to find evidence,” Leslie Reagan, author of the book “When Abortion Was a Crime”, told the Times. “They would stake out clinics and round up women as they left.… Women would be threatened, interrogated and brought into court as witnesses against their providers.”
What do you think?
Do you want the Supreme Court to uphold the Mississippi ban? Should they overturn Roe v. Wade? Should abortion be a state issue? Take action above, then share your thoughts below.
-Josh Herman, Casey Harris, Casey Dawson
The Latest
-
How To Help Civilians in UkraineHeavy shelling and fighting have caused widespread death, destruction of homes and businesses, and severely damaged read more... Public Safety -
The Latest: Israel Evacuates Rafah, Palestinian Place of RefugeUpdated May 6, 2024, 12:00 p.m. EST The Israeli military is telling residents of Gaza who have sought shelter in Rafah to read more... Israel -
Trump Hush Money Trial Enters Third Week, Strategy to ‘Deny, Deny, Deny’Updated May 6, 2024, 11:00 a.m. EST The criminal trial to determine whether Trump is guilty of falsifying records to cover up a read more... Law Enforcement -
IT: Battles between students and police intensify, and... 💻 Should we regulate AI access to our private data?Welcome to Thursday, May 2nd, listeners... The battle between protesters and police intensifies on college campuses across the read more...
Climate & Consumption
Health & Hunger
Politics & Policy
Safety & Security
Forced birth is violence against women!
Killing another human being is never ok… period!
Carina prefers a slow death for babies by starving them to death and ensuring their parents can’t afford to take care of them! No financial help for those women who are forced to have these babies is acceptable to the Right Wing Wacko Religious Fanatics?
To all you men who believes roe vs wade should be over turned: no UTERUS, no OPINION!! To all the women who are in favor of overturning it: SHAME ON YOU!! Shame on you for wanting the government tell you what to do with your body! What is it with women who wholly supports and embraces a patriarchal society! WTF do you think YOU are getting out of this?? NO ONE gets to tell me what do with my body! And for those who say “they’re only modifying it. That’s it!” Your sorry asses must be from Texas!
Women should have the right to decide for themselves what they want or need. They should have safe options stay available to them.
You go, burrkitty! You are special. I can tell! 😊❤️😊❤️
The right to a abortion needs to be saved.
The choice to continue a pregnancy or not, is a decision for a woman to make. Hers is the life and future impacted. It is her constitutional right to make her own choice for if and when to become a parent.
Punish the unborn child for the actions of those who conceived it. That's murder. Abortion is murder.
If people do not want to get abortions, then so be it that is their CHOICE. Let a women choose...a choice is what they want and deserve. If America actually took care of their kids, I might be a little less upset about people taking away a women choice, but not by much.
The Supreme Court has laws that they must follow also. Their rulings are supposed to reflect the opinion of the majority of the people of the country. At this time (12/7/21) the majority (80%) of the people of this country do not want Roe v Wade erased and (78%) do not want abortion to be against any laws. Currently, it is thought of as "private family business", not government business.
Think about it politics & religion aside, why would anyone need more than 15 W - E - E -K- S / 3 MONTHS to decide on an abortion!! ?? Give a flipping break! Killing humans for convenience is just wrong! 3rd word country stuff! Abortion up to that point fine, after no.
This is an Established Law and should not be left to individual States which simply means making abortions null and void; Over 70% of Americans support a woman’s right to choose for abortions. The Supreme Court becomes a political institution by changing Roe v. Wade, clearly which is not it’s function.
Overturning Roe V Wade marks a turn of events toward terrorism that I truly believed could not happen. When fanatics like Kavanaugh and Cooney-Barrett can force their religious values on all of America you will have to convince me they are not terrorists. Polls showing that the popular opinion in the country is a woman's right to chose but it appears the belief system of a small group of radical right wing crazies rules in the Supreme Court. Hopefully they will be the first causalities in the coming Revolution because we certainly will have to have one to rid the country of this scrounge!
New times new thoughts new responsibilities
I am a mommy to an angel. When I was 28, I quite literally would have died without having a DNC which is an abortion procedure that happens when the mother is miscarrying. There would have been two lives lost. Overturning Row Vs. Wade does not change if abortions will continue to be happening in the USA. It only is a matter of if they will be had safely. As Sonia Sotomayor said, this is a religious debate; it’s not a debate of law and civil rights. #bansoffourbodies
As a male, I do not believe I have a right or invitation to voice my opinion. No male really does unless he and his significant other have discussed in detail a plan to become pregnant, or to have children. Every male’s 15 second contribution should have little to no baring on the 9 month decision by the female. Unless, as previously stated, both partners have agreed to a plan if the female were to become pregnant. As abortion and reproductive rights are a matter of healthcare and choice for each female now, making abortion illegal will only cause more harm than any good.
This who question has a simple answer, have the court decide when life begins. Period.
Hoping this message reaches both my elected representatives. If I sat on the Supreme Court I would author an opinion (whether it be a concurrence or in dissent) that shifted back towards the Roe v. Wade trimester test and a BLUNT STATEMENT of reaffirming the right for the woman ALONE to discuss PRIVATE MATTERS regarding HER BODY rather than shifting Planned Parenthood v. Casey’s undue burden standard further towards further intrusion into private matters amongst couples, families- but ultimately a INDIVIDUAL PERSON WITHOUT INTERFERENCE AND ENSLAVEMENT BY GOVERNMENTS AND COURTS UNLESS IT COULD LEAD TO A SERIOUS LEGITIMATE PUBLIC CRISIS.
If Roe v Wade is overturned, then women in some states will have less rights than women in other states. Women all across the country should be guaranteed the same rights. A female embryo and a female corpse should not have more rights than a fully formed woman.