Supreme Court Abortion Ruling is Much Worse Than You Can Imagine

The Supreme Court has voted to end abortion rights in the United States after overturning Roe v. Wade by a conservative supermajority, according to a confirmed leak from Justice Samuel Alito. The consequences of criminalizing abortion will be devastating for the United States, and not just for the women who are now forced to carry a fetus against their will. This ruling is designed to punish women, specifically middle and working class women, and it will have an even greater impact on Black and Indigenous communities, who have already been blocked from equal access to healthcare by delusional white evangelicals. Wealthy women will still be able to access abortion by crossing state lines, but for everyone else, particularly younger women, this will not be an option.

And since women WILL continue to get abortions, because many have no choice, regardless of the law, those who can’t afford to do so safety will rely on illegal abortions by unlicensed practitioners, leading to a much higher risk of complications and death. Moreover, women would be forced to have children in a country with nearly the highest maternal and infant mortality rates, the worst childcare, healthcare and postpartum support systems among all high-income countries.

It also means there will be a massive increase in children in foster care, child abuse, and generational poverty. In fact, we will likely see the reversal of a trend that occurred after abortion was federally legalized: approximately 15-20 years following Roe v. Wade, crime rates fell significantly in the United States. It should be a no-brainer to understand that children raised by mothers and families that didn’t want them will experience more trauma and developmental issues leading to increased crime, drug use, and mental health conditions.

Horrifically, this projected rise in crime will be weaponized by the same right-wing authoritarians who are behind the abortion ban, who will then use it to justify increased policing, harsh sentencing, and vigilantism, despite creating the conditions responsible for this more dangerous future. We actually saw this exact scenario happen in Romania when in 1966 the country’s dictator banned abortions and contraceptives - leading directly to a skyrocketing increase in children abandoned in orphanages and foster care, and thousands upon thousands of deaths from back-alley abortions.

It also created an angry, poor, and marginalized class of young, unwanted adults who rose up and overthrew that very same dictator once they reached their mid-20s. In other words, the Supreme Court just rolled back women’s rights by 50 years in order to satisfy the personal religious doctrine of far-right politicians against the expressly stated will of the American people, only 28% of whom actually support this ruling, and which will directly lead to an aggressive increase in wealth inequality, child poverty, and cruelty against marginalized communities. This abortion ban is bad for all us - but the cruelty is the point.