According to an initial draft majority opinion leaked to Politico, the Supreme Court has decided to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The draft was written by Justice Samuel Alito. Five of the justices were confirmed to support the decision, including justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. No draft from the Supreme Court has ever been leaked to the public while the case was still pending.

The draft renunciates the federal constitutional protections of the rights to an abortion. This ruling would allow each state to make the decision as to whether or not they would ban abortion.

The overturning of this case will result in over 50% of the country losing their reproductive rights. It is most likely that 26 states will immediately take action after the overturning and make abortion illegal.

Now, the banning of abortions won’t actually stop abortions from happening. It will simply put an end to safe abortions. Illicit and dangerous abortions will be become an even more likely option to those who desperately need an abortion.

Individuals with uteruses should always and forever have access to abortion, it is a human right. Everyone should be in control of what happens to their own body. Others, specifically cisgender men, should not be making decisions over bodies that are not theirs.

“Roe v. Wade’s ruling was based on the premise of privacy, which if overturned, hurts and negates the rights of every woman or possible pregnant person. This is because the state they live in will govern their body and decide what is ‘best’ for them,” states Junior Penelope Faudree.

According to a 2004 survey that was completed by 1,209 abortion patients at 11 providers, 73% of the individuals said that part of the reason they got an abortion was due to the fact that they could not afford a baby at the time.

Having and taking care of babies in the current day and age is incredibly expensive, and it is extremely unfair to poor individuals to force them to birth and care for another human that they don’t have the resources for. Some also may be unable to even afford to just travelling to the states that offer abortions. The criminalization of abortions will keep generations upon generations in poverty.

Additionally, according to a survey ran by PBS, 61% of Americans support abortion rights. That means that the Supreme Court is making a decision that disagrees with the opinion of the majority of the U.S. How could that possibly make sense? This decision should be made by “We the People”, shouldn’t it?

If America really is the land of the free, then we should have the freedom to do what we want with other bodies. No one else should have a say over anyone else’s body, except for that person, that is what true freedom is. Keep your bans off our bodies.