We Asked LHS Students What They Thought About Roe v. Wade Being Overturned. Here's What They Said.

On Friday, June 24, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 vote following a draft opinion leaked in May. As a result, we asked Lexington High School students to share their opinions in an anonymous google form. The responses are shown below:

**CONTENT WARNING: mentions of gun violence, sexual assault, and use of profanity. Quotes have been edited for clarity.

“I’m terrified and furious. I remember walking into my last class on the last day of school and the first thing someone said to me was that Roe v. Wade was overturned. I was so shocked it didn’t even register until a few hours later. Not shocked as in I didn’t expect it whatsoever, but shocked as in feeling jarred by the loss of rights. I mean I can just picture myself when I’m older telling some kids that ‘on the last day of school when I was 17, Roe v. Wade was overturned,’ because I know this struggle isn’t going away anytime soon. They won’t stop at just this. American politics is shifting further and further to the right, and it feels like anyone with the power to do anything about it is just watching. Countless women are going to die from this. It makes me want to scream, to lose every ounce of my dignity, and fight like hell until we get substantial change. and this is coming from a place of privilege in a state that protects the right to abortion in its constitution.”

“This feels like a canary in a coal mine. Things are looking to get a whole lot worse for many groups in our country and it’s fucking horrible.”

“I think that it is a travesty in so many ways. Not only is it a clear infringement on women’s rights but the logic behind the decision could result in gay marriage, interracial marriage, contraceptives, and other crucial decisions being struck. Perhaps the worst part of the entire ordeal is that states have a lot of discretion over how the decision is enforced which could result in extreme measures in place to prevent abortions and the effects on victims of rape. Class and race privilege also play into the issue, as rich and white women would have the easiest time going out of state to get abortions. I will say that I have been seeing a high level of performative social media activism where people will post about how awful the decision and then move on with their lives. These posts often engage in tokenism and the people behind them might feel genuinely bad about the issue but are also in it for the social capital. They tend to happen in places that are not directly affected by the decision and have the option of continuing with life as usual (cough cough Lexington). I would warn against this, as actions speak louder than words and trading social capital over something with very real negative consequences is frankly disgusting. Properly supporting movements that are attempting to help those directly affected is a much better use of one’s time in my opinion.”

“As a girl, this doesn’t make me feel safe for my future in the US and it makes me distrust my safety in this country more and more, especially when piled onto the gun and racial violence that still hasn’t been resolved.”

“I just think that it doesn't make sense that a woman can't have a choice over her body. It’s her body, not anyone else's, so why are men involved in women's health care? And, if they [pro-life individuals] say that they're pro-choice, why are they letting children die in school shootings? Why won't they give money to women who need it to raise the children that they were forced to have? It's not even about life, it's about power and control. The people saying ‘pro-life’ don't care about letting people live, because some women will die without abortions. Do they not see that or do they just not care? And do they understand that they can never ban abortions, they can only ban safe abortions? Do they not care about the women that they are killing? If they think banning things is the solution, why can't they ban guns? How the fuck do guns have more rights than women in this country? How is it even fathomable that the penalty for rape is lower than the penalty for abortion? I am so terrified for what this country has become and what it will become.”

“I’m honestly horrified and I hope that everyone is too. It terrifies me to think of the pregnancy scares I’ve heard of and experienced in the past and how, if they had fully developed, people I know—people who can’t even drive—would have had to carry through with childbirth and the responsibility of a second completely dependent new baby. I hope that everyone maintains a deep sense of empathy for all those affected."

“I'm extremely happy. This is a major win for America. The supreme court should follow the constitution strictly, as they did in this case."

"I'm terrified."

"It’s complete and utter bullshit. It is ridiculous how five justices get to dictate the reproductive rights of tens of millions of women across America. If they are so "pro-life," why don’t they focus on saving the lives of those abused in the foster care system? Or those struggling to get a solid meal a day? Or the moms working three jobs trying to keep themselves and their kids afloat? If you really want to save people, how about you focus on the ones actually alive and on this Earth?

“No one likes abortion. I want there to be less and less abortion through better sex education, birth control, and other preventive measures. However, abortion is a necessity, and denying it from women is truly cruel. To the Supreme Court justices, politicians, and people in power supporting Roe v. Wade being overturned: screw you. If you are against abortion, just don’t get one. Ignore it, like you ignore school shootings. Because right now, it seems that our government will protect guns more than they protect women."

"My first thoughts when I heard about Roe v. Wade being overturned was, what the fuck was the thought process behind this? There is absolutely nothing "pro-life" over putting people with uteruses' lives at risk. Abortion not being accessible will put so many people in danger, especially BIPOC and so many others struggling from poverty, mental health issues, or simply people who just aren't interested in having children. If they were truly "pro-life" as they have been screaming for who knows how long, maybe they would've put into consideration the struggles that child will have to go through, such as unavailability of baby formula, the danger of foster homes, etc. But of course, they don't care about this, they only care about having control over what people want to do with their bodies. I genuinely can't believe that people will be forced to 1) have kids when they simply aren't ready and 2) find more dangerous ways to have an abortion, which will most likely end up harming them severely. They are killing people."

"I think Roe v. Wade being overturned will have devastating impacts on women around the country. Many who are unable to travel out of state or afford an abortion will be forced to choose between a baby they don’t want/can’t support or an unsafe abortion. "

“It’s really upsetting, terrible, and scary that something like this could happen and it’s really shameful that we have fewer rights than people less than fifty years ago. It’s something that is so backward and should not be happening, and the fact that we are still even debating whether or not a woman can decide if she wants an abortion is actually insane.”

"When I first heard about Roe v. Wade being overturned part of me was shocked but the other part was not. Given the rise of populism and the power of the radical right, it started to make sense how Roe v. Wade and women's rights could be ignored. But at the end of the day, this is not where our nation should be headed, This is not just a case of five supreme court justices imposing their personal beliefs on a secular nation, but a threat to our democracy. Now that Roe is overturned, tons of other supreme courtcases that are the basis for equality in this country are at risk-- Brown v. Board of Education, etc. This is not a case of protecting lives and the recent shootings only prove that. All of the young mothers that will die from unsafe abortions also prove that. Especially considering how this will disproportionately impact BIPOC, this is a case of white supremacy. "

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