In the year 1973, Roe v. Wade was approved. This piece of legislation states that the Constitution upholds a woman’s right to an abortion before the viability of the fetus. Due to the 2022 elections, times are changing, along with new governors, members of the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Through these changes and the politicization of abortion, people’s perception of the topic is either changing or growing stronger.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization focused on reproductive health, about one-fourth of Americans will have an abortion before age 45. Breaking down these stats further, about 4.6 percent will have had an abortion by age 20, and 19 percent before age 30. 

Believe it or not, this act of legislation applies to all teenage girls across the nation. Almost 350,000 U.S. teenagers under the age of 18 become pregnant each year. Approximately 82% of these pregnancies are unintended. Fifty-five percent of pregnant teenagers give birth, 31% have abortions, and 14% have miscarriages. With the percentage of abortions being so high among teenagers, young women need to read, analyze, and form educated opinions regarding abortion. For it is a prominent occurrence within our society.

How would the ban on the Roe v. Wade legislation affect you, and how would it make you feel?

Hadley Cooper expressed that even though this might not directly affect her, she knows it will affect other woman and their opportunity to choose. “I think I see it as taking away a woman’s choice. Which is taking away my choice and what I want to do with my body. But I know what I would choose so I don’t know if it would be taking that away from me but so many women don’t know what they would choose and now they aren’t even allowed to choose because it’s taken away. And also the rights to our body, bye! We wouldn’t have any more rights to our bodies which is frustrating to me,” explained senior Hadley Cooper.

Even though Shae O’Barto believes abortions are immoral in some ways, each woman’s circumstances are different and should be treated as such. “I don’t think I would be able to give birth and take care of a child as someone who is still in high school, and cannot take care of myself or another human being, financially, or physically,” stated senior Shae O’Barto.

Josie Marts believes that this decision would be a step in the right direction. “If abortion was banned I feel that it wouldn’t affect me very much but I would agree with this decision as some tend to overuse this procedure as a form of birth control,” described senior Josie Marts.

How would the sustaining of the Roe v. Wade legislation affect you and how would it make you feel?

 Sustaining the Roe v. Wade legislation would make Cooper feel a sense of security and well-being. “I would be very happy with that for women as a whole. But I think just knowing that we can decide makes me feel safer and it makes me feel like I have the right to my body and I would ultimately have that decision if I ever had to make one,” stated Cooper.

 O’Barto is confident in her opinion that abortions should not be overused. However, she believes that not every woman is at the point in their life to be fully self-sufficient while supporting a child. “I don’t think this would affect me often, but I think it would be quite wrong if people were just aborting their children just because. However, I understand the aspect of if you are not financially stable, and under the age of 25, and you’re not able to take care of another human being. This would ultimately not be fair to the child because you are unable to care for them properly. I think abortions should be an option for women in these situations,” described O’Barto.

Josie Marts believes that since times are changing, so should legislation. “I feel that if abortion was never banned it would worry me. Many people would then just do what they want without worrying about the consequences and kill innocent lives because of their mistakes. It would not affect me much again but I still feel that this would not be a good move made by the government,” explained Marts.

It can be seen that the young women of Greater Latrobe Senior High School are reading, analyzing, and forming educated opinions on the topic of abortion. Within our ever-changing society, it is crucial to understand major pieces of legislation that could impact your future. Whether a woman agrees with abortion or not, it is quite important to respect others’ opinions while advocating for your own.