Autonomy is something that every human being deserves. The right to make a decision about one’s own person is important and should be a natural and constitutional right. Yet, there are some laws in the United States in 2024 that restrict people from making decisions about their own bodies, the major example being that States are allowed to restrict women from getting an abortion, as well as making the action illegal since the overthrow of the famous Roe v. Wade case in 2022. Roe v. Wade was a case that took place on January 22, 1973. This case was between Roe, the alias of a woman who sought an abortion and Wade, a District Attorney of Dallas Country, Texas. The Supreme Court’s majority opinion stated that under the 14th Amendment, all of the States are not able to prevent a woman from getting an abortion, due to the fact that it violates the woman’s right to privacy. However, the case was brought up again in 2022, and the Supreme Court ended up overruling the decision from the Roe v. Wade case, making it so that the right to an abortion is no longer protected by The Constitution. The Supreme Court did not make the right decision in its interpretation of the 14th amendment regarding the overturn of Roe v. Wade because they failed to recognize that it will violate a woman’s right to privacy and right to autonomy.
The majority opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson case deemed that it was unconstitutional for a pregnant person to receive an abortion after 15 weeks of the pregnancy because The Constitution does not mention a right to an abortion. The majority also acknowledged that there were some rights that were not listed in The Constitution, but they countered this argument, saying that those rights were “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition”, meaning that the majority defended their opinion by saying that America’s history and tradition do not include the right to an abortion, unlike the right to vote, for example. The right to vote is also not clearly stated in The Constitution, but the majority opinion would argue that this right is considered part of tradition in the U.S., unlike the right to an abortion. This ruling also allowed States to ban abortion from the start of fertilization if there was a consensus to do so. The majority opinion, however, interpreted the case wrong; The Supreme Court should not have overturned Roe v. Wade, because tradition and history should not determine the future and make it set in stone. Ideas, beliefs, and customs change throughout time––it is what makes the world slowly change to be fair and perfect for everyone. By using outdated traditions, the world will never change and will never be perfect for everyone at the same time. The minority opinion in this case, provided by Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan, also provides reasons why Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, saying that a State should not have the power to decide when a woman should get an abortion. Thus, the minority opinion expressed that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, and this opinion is the right choice and what the court should have decided on.
Autonomy is precious, and autonomy should be a right. It is cruel and unfair that States are deciding how to control a woman’s body, because the woman and her alone should have the right to decide if she wants to have a child or not. Furthermore, the argument that the majority opinion states about how rights that are not directly expressed in The Constitution are rights that are deeply rooted in history in tradition, and how the right to an abortion doesn’t follow tradition and history may be true. However, it is simply ignorant to stay stuck in the past and not allow a right to be granted because it doesn’t follow tradition. Many people in the United States also forget that abortion is a choice; just because abortion is legal does not mean every pregnant woman will terminate her child. There are plenty of women who want to be mothers, who choose to be mothers. However, women should also have the right to choose not to be mothers. Thus, The Supreme Court made the wrong decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Since many members of The Supreme Court cannot make a baby, “[they have] no right to tell a woman when and where to create one.”
