I am 15 years old, I fear for my future as a woman with Roe v. Wade overturned
As of Friday, June 24th, 2022, my body is no longer my own. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has made sure of that.
At the young age of 15, I’m being forced to come to terms with the idea that my right to a safe abortion is simply a privilege that I do not need nor deserve. That I’ve been lucky to grow up with the right to control my own reproductive organs. This right I’ve grown up with has been stripped away as of late, and I’ve never felt as much pure fear and horror for my future as I feel currently.
As someone who has their whole life ahead of them, I’m striving to reach out to members of communities all over Kentucky that might be able to help stop this state and this country from regressing any further. I’m urging you to consider what I have to say and to help support those who are having their rights revoked in any way you can. Any little effort counts – futures like mine depend on it.
More: US Supreme Court signals willingness to allow Kentucky AG to defend state's abortion law
Because of the trigger law in place that made abortions (including pregnancies as result of rape and incest) in Kentucky illegal as soon as Roe v. Wade was overturned, those who want and need abortions must travel to another state in most cases just to receive necessary healthcare. But what about those who can’t readily travel such distances to receive the help they need?
Kentuckians in Poverty
Kentucky is one of the top ten states with the highest percentage of poverty. 14.9% of Kentucky's population live in poverty – that’s about 676,409 Kentuckians. Living in poverty means that traveling over 100 miles for abortion help and care is not always doable and that those in poverty have many fewer options compared to those not impoverished.
Traveling to another state for abortion care and staying there for recovery would take valuable time that could be spent making money to support themselves. The overturning of Roe v. Wade affects everyone, but it particularly impacts poorer individuals and families, who are often the ones who need abortion help and care the most.
Saving Women
One main argument I see from anti-abortionists is that banning abortion will save the thousands of potential lives that are lost due to abortions. But what about the lives of the people who will now be forced to carry out unsafe abortions? Do they deserve to be reduced to sacrifices for these said potential lives?
Banning abortion does not stop abortions. Before Roe v. Wade, an estimated 1.2 million U.S. women obtained illegal abortions every year, and unsafe abortions killed as many as 5,000 of them. Not to mention all of those who didn’t die, but did undergo serious health complications afterward. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, our regression toward times when that was the reality is fast approaching. Is that really the future Kentuckians want?
For Subscribers: Advocates have a plan to restart abortions in Kentucky. Opponents have a plan to stop it
All of this is to say that the overturning of Roe v. Wade only spells suffering, sorrow and regression for Kentucky and for the nation as a whole. I want to leave you with a call to action: please, donate anything you can to organizations in support of abortion care and support. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the National Abortion Federation are all great places to support our right to our own bodies and reproductive systems.
Anything you do is better than nothing. Just don’t sit idly by and let Kentucky and the rest of this country strip our rights away as human beings. The future of my life and many others like me depend on it.
Harper Scott is a high school student at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: I am 15, I fear for my future as a woman with Roe v. Wade overturned
