And Just Like That, Roe vs. Wade is Dead.

The Supreme Court just took away the right to bodily autonomy.

Lauren Elizabeth

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Photo by Maria Oswalt on Unsplash

And just like that, on a warm June Friday morning as Americans look forward to a summer weekend, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade.

In an instant, five men and one woman made the most consequential decision that’s been handed down by a U.S. court in decades, and stripped women all over the country of their right to bodily autonomy. In an instant, it was determined that in the supposed “land of the free”, if you have a uterus, it’s the property of the state. In an instant, nearly two dozen states will ban abortion outright and in states like Louisiana, there isn’t even an exception for life of the mother.

I’m at work on my break as I write this. I saw the news scroll across the television screen of one of my residents. There was Nancy Pelosi on the lefthand side of the screen, calling the decision “deadly”. It was just weeks ago she was campaigning for and rallying support behind the lone pro life Democrat in the House of Representatives, ensuring his progressive challenger lost the race by less than 300 votes.

It truly is enough to make you absolutely sick to your stomach.

I don’t even know how to process it just yet.

It’s one of those things where you know it’s coming, but it’s something else entirely when it officially happens.

As I walked away from the television screen I thought of this past weekend, sitting in the passenger seat of my best friend’s car as we talked about another one of her good friends that I knew. We talked about her friend’s previous relationship, that was more toxic and emotionally abusive than I can even begin to describe.

We talked at length about how if she hadn’t had the abortion, she would still be with him.

I thought of a friend of my brother’s, who recently was brave enough to share on Facebook that she had an abortion as a teenager. She shared how it was a decision that shaped her future and afforded her opportunities that she would not have had otherwise, and was glad she had been able to do it.

Across the countries, millions will be denied that same choice.

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Lauren Elizabeth

Lauren is a writer & leftist with analysis on topics related to politics & policy. She can be reached at LaurenMartinchek@gmail.com or Twitter @xlauren_mx