Abortion rights in the United States have always been a controversial topic, with many different opinions and viewpoints. However, until June 24th, 2022, those rights had been protected under Roe V. Wade.

Roe V. Wade was a decision made by the United States Supreme Court on January 22nd, 1972, that gave women the right to have a medically preformed abortion in the United States. On June 24th, 2022, Roe V. Wade was overturned. Now, the abortion rights that stood for 50 years in the United States have become jeopardized, with about half of the states being expected to enact bans on abortions or put gestational limits on the procedures. 

  Currently, there are 12 states where abortions are banned with no exceptions for rape or incest: Idaho, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Montana, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Louisiana. According to the New York Times, Wisconsin has had strict laws surrounding abortions since 1849, with them having passed a law before Roe, that abortions would be banned as well as making the performance of the procedure a class H felony, which in Wisconsin is the second most diminished felony, that could put the person who performed the operation, in jail for up to 6 years as defined by the Van Severen Law Office.

With those states following abortion bans, there are many states that have temporarily blocked those bans because of their government officials, such as Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, West Virginia, and South Carolina. Though no one has specified whether or not those states will ever lift those temporary blocks, Indiana lawmakers have passed a law on abortions, that will be fully administered on September 15th, 2022, that bans abortions with the exceptions of rape, incest, and situations in which the baby would be stillborn or the mother’s health would be at risk if she were to carry out the pregnancy.

Although, there are some states that haven’t fully banned abortions, and instead they have gestational limits that allow abortions up to a certain point in the pregnancy. Ohio and Georgia currently allow abortion procedures up until 6 weeks of pregnancy, while Florida permits abortions through 15 weeks, Utah with 18 weeks, North Carolina at 20, Kansas and Nebraska at 22, along with Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts authorizing abortions up until a 24-week gestational period. 

Even with Roe V. Wade being overturned, there are states that are not following through with abortion bans. Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Minnesota, Illinois, New Mexico, Maine, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont still have abortions set to be fully legal with no limitations. There are some other states that also have legalized abortions, however, they do have limitations when it comes to states funds being prohibited from going towards covering the cost of abortion procedures, Those states include Colorado, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Virginia. 

Amidst all the bans and the overturning of Roe V. Wade, there are a few “safe haven” states. Safe Haven states are those that have protective laws in place to shield those from out-of-state who are seeking or providing abortions. This way they cannot be prosecuted for receiving or performing abortions in these states, even though they are from somewhere that has banned abortions.

Since Colorado is a safe haven state, we might not have a lot to worry about when it comes to having access to abortions. However, with many students going out of state for college, some of them might be going to colleges in states that aren’t as lenient when it comes to reproductive rights. A senior here at Eaglecrest says,”As someone who has been in a position in which I’ve needed to use a contraceptive pill, if I did not have access to it at that moment, who knows where I would be right now, and with the United States having one of the worst sexual education systems, we should be doing more to educate people, making contraceptives more easily accessible, and keeping our women safe and healthy, than trying to put laws on our bodies. People make mistakes, and in some unfortunate situations, something could happen against someone else’s will. I believe we should prioritize the life of the being that’s already been born.” When faced with the lack of rights over our own bodies, it is safe to say that a large number of women in the United States would agree.

Not only is this a women’s “problem”, it is also a problem in the hands of the men responsible for these pregnancies, the fathers of daughters who will go through immense physical and mental hardships, the teachers of students who will miss months of schools or even drop out, the government officials who will now be responsible for the children born into unfit families, and the hospitals that will have to tend to the patients who had hurt themselves performing unsafe abortions. After the overturning of Roe V. Wade, there have been changes in all 50 states, some going against the federal decision and others not.