Despite not being clearly stated in the Constitution, a right to privacy has been embedded indirectly within the foundational document. The Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment outlines that every person is given liberties and therefore their right to privacy is a major factor. We the People deserve autonomy. We the People deserve to make our own choices about our bodies unless it causes harm to others. We the People should have the right to our bodies. Unfortunately, in America today, women face the Constitutional right of privacy being stripped from their hands.
Abortions have been a staple medical procedure that gave women the choice to conceive a child or not. In the 19th century, abortion was largely criminalized and was considered an antagonistic action and women who indulged in doing so were “sinners”. Soon, the feminist movement of the mid 1900’s began lifting the fallacy. The issuing of Roe v. Wade legalized abortions throughout the US signaling significant movement within the reproductive health care system. Unfortunately, this great movement was tentative. In 2022, Roe V. Wade was overturned causing outrage throughout the country. That day marked the day when our rights took a large step back. It has been instituted in our Constitution to ensure that personal beliefs should not have a significant role in the decisions that are made which, unfortunately, was permitted within our system.
Our US adoption system does not allow children or teens to adopt due to their lack of financial resources and ability to take care of a child, but our government turns a blind eye when the child that is a rape or incest victim doesn’t have the necessary resources to raise a child. Our government should stand for the people and by the people but today we come to the question of whether or not they are doing that. Additionally infant mortality increased along with births in most states with abortion bans in the first 18 months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, (Belluck, 2025). This means that many abortions are made due to medical complications. Essentially the US has severed women’s reproductive healthcare through this decision.
Despite this decision, various efforts are being made by legislators and protestors, fighting for everyone’s constitutional rights. States like California, New York, and North Carolina set standards that alleviate the problem by enacting laws that safeguard abortion to a certain extent (Smith, 2024). The right to privacy is something substantial, issuing autonomy for every person. Whether it is the context of abortion or not it is crucial to prevent the government from interfering with the access to basic healthcare.
Today, women are fighting gender barriers to make their way to the top. Unfortunately in the government, the protections they were granted through the years of fighting are slowly disappearing. To fight for the rights of people’s grandmothers, mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters. To fight for the future of women across America today. Let's fix this broken promise.
Works Cited
“Voters in Seven States Pass Measures to Protect Abortion.” State Court Report, 2024, statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/voters-seven-states-pass-measures-protect-abortion.
Belluck, Pam. “After Abortion Bans, Infant Mortality and Births Increased, Research Finds.” Nytimes.com, The New York Times, 13 Feb. 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/health/abortion-bans-infant-mortality.html.