Graphic by Trinity Kendrick ‘21
By Kesshini Bhasiin ’22
Health & Science Editor
Content warning: This article contains discussion of abortion.
Tens of thousands of women braved the cold, possible arrest and a deadly virus as they marched across Poland to fight for their right to choose this October. Dressed as baby incubators from “The Handmaid’s Tale” in red hoods and carrying red lightning bolts, these women banded together in the country’s largest protests since the 1980s following an unappealable ruling to ban almost all abortions in the country. Per this new ruling, the procedure may be carried out only under strict exceptions — conception via criminal acts like rape or incest or when continued pregnancy poses a threat to the woman’s life. Prior exceptions granted for fetal abnormalities have been abrogated under this new law. A sense of despair and vehement anger toward the government and the Catholic Church appears to hang heavy across the European nation, with many visuals depicting smoke, shouts and tears.
Given the United States’ confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett — the third conservative justice President Donald Trump has appointed to the bench — it is possible to wonder if the U.S. is headed down a similar path. This Supreme Court bench is set to receive cases that could open the doors to overturning Roe v. Wade, especially with the conservatives holding a 6-3 majority and numerous Senate Republicans keen to support such a move. In essence, there appears to be a very real possibility that women could stand to lose their reproductive freedoms.
Assistant Professor of Politics and expert on reproductive rights in Latin America Cora Fernandez Anderson discussed the importance of these freedoms and the role of government, if any, in regulating reproductive rights.
Fernandez Anderson said that historical facts and current trends may help anticipate the aftermath of more restrictive abortion laws. The new laws may lead to the birth of great “social injustice,” similar to that in the U.S. and the majority of Latin American countries before 1973, according to Fernandez Anderson.
“Rich women will still be able to gain access to abortion — they will just travel elsewhere to do it — while women belonging to minority and poor communities will no longer be able to access safe abortions,” she said.
This lack of access has not historically translated to a decrease in the number of abortions performed in these countries. Women of all communities and economic statuses have still found methods to carry out the procedure, either through self-injury or visiting illegal clinics with little to no protections in case something goes awry. Echoing the concerns of the feminist groups Fernandez Anderson worked with, she believes that such a ruling “would not end abortions, but end safe abortions.”
However, looking to Latin American nations and certain states today shows that an existing drug may provide some relief. Misoprostol makes self-administered abortion procedures performed with the right information nearly as safe as surgical abortions. Networks have been developed by feminist activists across these regions, and if Roe v. Wade is overturned, they would possibly be “needed even more,” Fernandez Anderson said.
Historical precedent suggests that there are a few reasons why some governments support banning abortions despite the greater possibility of maternal injury or even mortality. One of the leading reasons is the involvement of the Catholic Church. In the case of Poland, a country with nearly 33 million practicing Catholics, the government’s decisions have been heavily influenced by rhetoric from the church on valuing the sanctity of all life.
When such rhetoric came to a head after SCOTUS’ 1973 opinion in Roe v. Wade and voters began to support the pro-life movement, politicians seemed to acknowledge that discussing women’s reproductive rights in a manner favored by their constituents could almost certainly guarantee them being voted into power. This is now such a pressing issue in some states that, in the documentary “Reversing Roe,” Texas Democrat Donna Howard commented that a candidate’s stance on abortion is deeply important even when voting for unrelated offices, such as agriculture.
Fernandez Anderson further noted that in countries such as Poland, “a deep history of imperialism” has played a role in decisions to protect the unborn. This is being branded “Polish nationalism” by Jaroslaw Kaczyński, the incumbent leader of the right-wing Law and Justice party. Similarly, in Latin America, it is often believed that abortion came alongside increased involvement of the U.S. government in the region, thereby leading people to believe that such a practice was not a part of their own cultural identity.
It appears that there is sometimes a choice to be made between standing for women’s reproductive freedoms or standing for one’s church and state.
Interestingly, the church appears to be “more coherent than the state” on the issue, Fernandez Anderson said. The church has long advocated for welfare programs, increased support for child-rearing and a more holistic approach to childcare that does not simply end after the birth of the child. In the absence of globally subsidized health care, affordable daycare and paid paternity leaves, it appears that governments have a lot more work to do to provide adequate support for a child after its birth.
Debates still remain about whether governments should truly have a role to play in determining reproductive rights. When considering this, Fernandez Anderson laughed, noting how she had spent a considerable amount of time debating this issue in her courses. “The only role governments should play is to guarantee these rights to all citizens,” she said. If there arises a situation of inaccessibility or harm to a minority, then governments should step in to “ensure equality,” she added.
There does appear to be some indication that the nearly 50-year-old precedent set by Roe v. Wade will be too strong to overturn; however, a stricter exception policy, similar to the one enacted in Poland, may be fast approaching.