College students contemplate Roe v. Wade's end
Good morning, Columbus.
Between getting COVID-19 and losing my power twice (once during the citywide outages and once after a bolt of lighting burst a tree in my back lot into smithereens,) I'm grateful to be writing to you from my air-conditioned apartment and feeling much better.
Review Session: Protests and celebrations followed Friday's 6-3 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade, and reactions varied among the state's college students.
For the thousands of college students across Ohio, the Roe v. Wade decision was the law of the land for more than twice their lifetimes. So the Dobbs decision ultimately begs the question: What could life for young adults be like in a post-Roe America?
Traditional college-age women ages 20 to 24 make up about 28% of those who get a legal abortion, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women ages 25 through 29 make up another 29%, together totaling more than half of all legal abortions in the United States.
I worked with Dispatch interns Zaria Johnson, David Kwiatkowski, Jessica Orozoco, and reporter Monroe Trombly to interview nearly a dozen young adults about their reactions about the Supreme Court decision.
For many of the folks we talked to, the end of Roe marked a day of anger and sadness. Many young women expressed anger with a Supreme Court and elected officials they don't feel truly represent them, fears of returning to college campuses with weak protections for victims of sexual assault, and worry that legal access to contraception could be the next target.
Others we spoke with were overjoyed at Roe being overturned. They shared their excitement that decades of anti-abortion activism had finally led to this moment, and they looked forward to a post-Roe future in Ohio and beyond.
The end of Roe will dramatically change many aspects of life for students in Ohio and nationwide, and prompts plenty of education-centric questions to answer. Will colleges and universities advocate for students' to maintain access to abortions? How could the Dobbs decision affect sex-ed courses for middle and high school students? What will student activism look like in post-Roe Ohio?
What questions do you have? Drop us a line and we'll do our best to look into it.
You can read our full story here. And for a quick breakdown of what the end of Roe means for Ohioans, check out our latest videos on TikTok.
Extra Credit
The Columbus Education Association rallied prior to last Tuesday's Columbus City Schools Board of Education meeting, accusing the district of violating their contract by unilaterally trying to remove members of a program for homeless students from contract negotiations.
The U.S. Department of Justice reached a consent decree settlement with Groveport Madison Local Schools Board of Education in a racial discrimination suit filed by a former district assistant principal.
With summer in full swing, be sure not to miss K-12 reporter Megan Henry's story about where Greater Columbus students can get free lunches.
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Until next week,
Sheridan Hendrix
Email: shendrix@dispatch.com
Twitter: @sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: College students contemplate Roe v. Wade's end
