A leaked draft of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark case, Roe v. Wade recently thwarted reproductive rights to the forefront of political discourse. 

The constitutional right to abortion was established by the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Additionally, Casey v. Planned Parenthood, expanded said rights by determining the extent to which states can moderate access to abortion, The official ruling, expected to be published in June or July, will determine whether or not abortion rights will cease to be federally protected. Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed the authenticity of the document. 

On Monday, May second, POLITICO published a leaked initial draft majority opinion composed by Justice Samuel Alito. The recent abrogation of Roe v. Wade marks the first time an entire draft decision has been viewed by the public while a case remains in progress. The draft accurately reveals the hyperpolarized partisan nature of the supreme court. In consistently referring to doctors who terminate pregnancies as “abortionists,” Justice Alito’s charged word choice fails to provide the judicial impartiality required to ensure due process of law.

Overturning Roe v. Wade would transfer the responsibility of laws pertaining to reproductive rights to individual states. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Guttmacher Institute, roughly half of the 50 states would ban or heavily restrict access to abortion. Some of these states have restrictive laws that predate the initial ruling of Roe v. Wade, and 13 others have ‘trigger laws.’ which would criminalize abortion directly following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. 

Despite the proactive efforts of progressive states to prepare for this overruling, specifically protesting in the Rally for Abortion Justice with one of the chants being “Roe v. Wade is here to stay”, we must fight on to protect our abortion rights. On May 14th a national protest led by Women’s March fought to keep “Bans Off Our Bodies,” and another march is planned for the inevitable overturning of  Roe v. Wade. Lucky, at the moment the majority of liberal states’ abortion access is protected, although the same cannot be said for conservative states. Abortion access is a human right, and safe access to it is a fundamental form of healthcare that all Americans deserve access to. To support access to abortion in America and protest this Roe. v. Wade’s overruling that degrees women’s rights 50 years back in time, donate to Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides sexual healthcare in the United States and Globally. We must unite to fight for our rights and ensure that every woman receives access to a safe, planned pregnancy, instead of one forced upon her by legislation. This is a human rights issue, an issue on healthcare, and an undermining of rights that women have had for over half a century. Join to fight the power and guarantee safe access to abortion for all Americans!