What Is The Impact Of Roe V. Wade On Women's Rights

Roe v. Wade

There is no question that Roe v. Wade has had a profound impact on how American people think of reproductive rights today. For many people, they have never lived through a time without the ruling as precedent until recently. Despite its overturning in 2022, Roe v. Wade remains a cornerstone of women’s health and reproductive rights advocacy. The case began with a woman named “Jane Roe”, who sought to have an abortion but faced legal restrictions in Texas. The state of Texas argued to protect the “life” of an unborn fetus, as they declared it a person under the 14th Amendment (Temme). The state put forth that they had a duty to maintain medical standards and protect prenatal life. Roe utilized absolute privacy rights, claiming that

Wade contributed to women’s reproductive rights being labeled as fundamental human rights, as they are included in all that bodily autonomy is. From Roe v. Wade, it was decided that when women and girls are making decisions about their health and their future, whether or not they have children should be left to their discretion (MSI United States). Another way to understand bodily autonomy is to look at the commonly socially used phrase, “the right to choose.” Having autonomy over one's body essentially boils down to having the ability to make choices for oneself without influence or interference. In its ruling, the court recognized for the first time that the constitution “[encompasses] a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy” (“Roe v. Wade”, 153). Acknowledging bodily autonomy, its massive importance, and including women’s rights in the conversation on a national level is something that came about from this case and can never be undone, despite the since overturning of Roe. Legally protecting bodily autonomy ensured not just a comfortable feeling among American citizens, women particularly, but their legitimate ability to live freely without fear of government

This cost increases after 20 weeks and most women who sought abortions were denied because they were too far along in the pregnancy. Most of them because they did not know they were pregnant, let alone how far along they were. It then makes it much harder to actually get an abortion. It increases their likelihood to not be able to pay for food, housing, transportation if they were denied vs if they weren’t. It also increases unsafe abortions not performed by medical professionals in a stable environment. They also had four times greater odds of a household income below the federal poverty level, and three times greater odds of being unemployed (Roberts, 2).

The case of Roe v. Wade addressed the constitutionality of laws that either criminalized or greatly restricted access to abortion. The Court's ruling established that a woman's choice to terminate her pregnancy falls within the scope of the right to privacy as protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113). The Court's decision also invalidated many existing state laws that prohibited or considerably limited access to