1. violation of human rights
1.1. the declaration promises that all should be granted the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness simply because they are human
1.2. by banning abortions, the right to life has the potentional to be stripped from mothers nationwide; if they have a medical condition or their pregnancy is not viable, and they are forced to carry to term anyway, they very well may die- from something that could be prevented by the termination of their pregnancy
1.3. the pursuit of happiness aspect is fairly obvious- if a women does not want to carry a child to term yet is forced against her will to do so, not only will she not be happy in the moment, but it may prevent her from pursuing the life she wants in the future
1.4. liberty is inherently being taken away with the bans of abortion has women no longer have the freedom to chose what to do with their own bodies and the trajectories of their own lives
2. damaging to gender equality efforts
2.1. there are no medical procedures that men aren't permitted to choose for themselves, especially in the birth control space- it is up to them whether or not they take ED medications, get a vasectomy, don't get a vasectomy, etc. - they have bodily autonomy
2.1.1. by not granting women bodily autonomy, our government is presenting the idea that men are superior to women- dangerous messaging that women have been fighting for so long already
2.2. unfortunately, of the five justices that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade (the standard for reproductive rights in the US for over 50 years), four were men- meaning that primarily men made a huge decision for what women can and cannot do, promoting the idea that men should hold power and that women don't have the same independence that men do
3. links- these include some of the stats I will be using, it didn't make much sense to me to just list the stats in the map
3.1. Wilkinson, Tracey A., and Caitlin Bernard. “Abortion Restrictions and the Impact on Families.” JAMA Pediatrics, vol. 178, no. 1, 1 Jan. 2024, pp. 15–16, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2811539, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.4735 .
3.2. Lau, Jay. “Abortion Restrictions Have Led to Negative Health Impacts, Say Panelists | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.” Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, HSPH, July 2024, hsph.harvard.edu/news/abortion-restrictions-have-led-to-negative-health-impacts-say-panelists/.
3.3. Spitzer, Elyssa, et al. “Abortion Bans Will Result in More Women Dying.” Center for American Progress, 2 Nov. 2022, www.americanprogress.org/article/abortion-bans-will-result-in-more-women-dying/ .
4. important court cases/history
4.1. Roe v. Wade
4.1.1. Temme, Laura. “Roe v. Wade Case Summary: What You Need to Know.” Findlaw, 17 Mar. 2023, supreme.findlaw.com/supreme-court-insights/roe-v--wade-case-summary--what-you-need-to-know.html.
4.2. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
4.2.1. National Constitution Center. “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.” National Constitution Center, 2022, constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/dobbs-v-jackson-womens-health-organization.
5. counterarguments
5.1. "abortion is taking a life" - not true; most cases of abortion either opt to terminate the fetus at a stage of development of prengancy at which the fetus could not live outdside of the womb, so yes, technically it is alive, but it couldn't actually live a life in its current state
5.2. "abortion devalues/makes life seem less important" - it does not; if anything, it makes life seem more important because it gives women the choice as to whether they want to attempt to bring life into the world. If they feel that they can't provide a good life for a child, wouldn't it be more cruel to give that child a far worse life than it deserves than to not give it life at all?
5.3. "the unborn child doesn't get a say in the matter" - right, the unborn child is incapable of thought, speech, or really anything, hence why what happens to it should be fully up to the woman carrying it, as she does have thoughts, feelings, emotions, and a life that she can actually live
6. decrease in mental health
6.1. women that are forced to carry a child to term against their will often experience heightened anxiety, depression, and often stuggle with their self esteem
6.1.1. this stems from feelings of not being in control of your own body, and is often worsened if the women became pregnant via an abuser, non consenual sex, or other forms of trauma
7. increase in children in the foster care system
7.1. not always, but often, women who seek out abortions do not feel fit to become mothers, whether this be because of a lack of funds, time, ability, or simply desire. because of this, as abortion because more restricted, the number of children placed into the foster care children will increase
7.1.1. while in theory the foster care system is meant to help children, it does not have nearly enough resources, resulting in poor conditions for many of the children who are forced to grow up in it
7.1.2. the more children placed into it, the worse the conditions will be as it already does not have the means to properly care for those already in it
8. increase in self-abortions
8.1. if a women really does not want to carry a pregnancy to term, whether it be because of health concerns or any of the many reasons a women may not want to have a baby, and she can't access the reproductive care she needs, the seemingly best option may be to take matters into her own hands
8.1.1. this is incredibly dangerous; completing any medical procedure outside of a medical institution is wildly dangerous, but especially a procudure of this severity
8.2. an increase in self-abortions will lead to a massive increase in maternal deaths, ones that could be prevented by providing access to necessary and often lifesaving care to women
9. aspects I do not want to dive into
9.1. religion: while I respect most religions, I do not practice any or believe in it myself and therefore can not understand the reasoning behind religion being an argument against a woman's right to choose
10. why do I care?
10.1. I consider myself to be a huge feminist and I am passionate about women's rights and empowerment
10.1.1. not only do I feel that stripping women of the right to choose is taking the women's rights movement back fifty years, but I also firmly believe that it is not the fair or right thing to do, two things that I care a lot about