Opinion: It’s Now or Never for Reproductive Justice
Recent abortion restrictions and bans threaten reproductive rights — especially with the challenging of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The way to protect reproductive justice lies in intersectionality.
(Kiran Komanduri via Washington Square News)
New York City, NY — by Aarna Dixit
This story was originally published on New York University’s Washington Square News.
In May 2021, a Mississippi law to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy was proposed — two months earlier than allowed by Roe v. Wade’s decision.
On Sept. 1, 2021, Texas implemented a new restrictive abortion ban: Senate Bill 8. The law outlaws abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy, the time when people most often realize they are pregnant. The law also encourages individuals to sue anyone who provides abortion care or assists someone in getting an abortion, making it almost impossible for those seeking an abortion to have any support in their decision.
Almost a year after Mississippi’s proposal, on March 3, 2022, Florida lawmakers voted to ban abortions after 15 weeks.
The list of restrictive abortion bans being proposed and passed goes on and on. The fact is that reproductive justice and bodily autonomy are threatened perhaps now more than ever since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. The Mississippi law will be heard by the Supreme Court in June this year; depending on how the case unfolds, Roe v. Wade could be overturned. We could lose reproductive autonomy entirely. Even states like New York that have passed legislature to decriminalize abortion and improve access to reproductive health care could find that legislation challenged.
Read the rest of the story at Washington Square News.