RVW

Roe vs. Wade

A case that has allowed protection for women all across the United States. A decision that, as we all know, is supposedly going to overturn the bill. This is the first time in United States history that a SCOTUS opinion draft has been leaked, as only a small circle of people have access to this information. It means that someone with considerable ties to the court leaked what was being discussed and deliberated.

The particular opinions deliberated as of recently were confirmed to be true in the court's recent opinion draft. We do not know the conclusion of the deliberation, but we do know that (should Roe v Wade be overturned) 13 states in the United States will ban abortions outright via trigger laws. This will allow the individual states to decide just how far they want to restrict this, which would be absolutely harmful to women's health.

In nursing school, and in my time in labor and delivery, I can tell you that the point of viability for a fetus is scientifically standardized at 24 weeks. This is the point in which the fetus can, with tremendous medical intervention, survive outside of the uterus. This also used to be the previous cutoff point for legal abortions, which makes sense.

Before my clinical training, we were required to take a bioethics course. As i'm sure you can imagine, abortion was a hot topic here. We discussed the philosophical implications, and most centered around the potential of a person that a fetus could be. The religious implications were also discussed heavily. However, the science was denied a lot. When science was cited, it was regarded as an annoyance and the religious individuals in the classroom argued passionately.

This is valid. However, we live in a society that should honor the perspectives, beliefs, ethnicities, and religious values of the many.

The earlier we push the cutoff point, the more dangerous this becomes. Women are not even aware that they are pregnant until 6 or 8 weeks, sometimes more. There are ectopic pregnancies in which an egg is non viably fertilized outside of the uterus (which constitutes a medical emergency), which could be considered an abortion. There are medically necessary abortions for fetal demise, in which the fetal tissue must be removed. Not doing so poses great risks for infection, sepsis, postpartum hemorrhage, and death. The uterus cannot "clamp down" or stop bleeding unless fetal and placental tissue are removed. Abortion must not interfere in this process, as maternal mortality rates are already skyrocketing in the absence of the already (barely) existing rights.

None of this mentions the fantastic deficit in maternal leave, prenatal care, and childcare in the United States. These also have a direct correlation to maternal death, of which the Unites States is a world leader (despite having some of the most modern advances in medicine).

None of this mentions the ethical implications of forcing a woman to be a human incubator against her will, of forcing her to carry a child for roughly 9 months. None of this mentions the many dangers of pregnancy, for both mother and fetus. Nobody should be able to dictate this decision for any given woman, and especially not politicians who have frighteningly little education on the subject.

And so today, I attended a protest. Men and women from around the state gathered, shared stories, signed petitions, and made our voices heard.

I wholeheartedly hope someone was listening.

Me, in front of my city's courthouse, among hundreds of others (not pictured)