Gen Z see the 'hypocrisy.' 'Pro-life' politicians don't care about kids, women | Opinion

Tara Alahakoon is a student journalist from Columbus. She is a sophomore at Amherst College studying English on a pre-medical track.

It was the morning of June 24, a Friday.

The office of the medical center had fallen silent when I entered for work. They knew the stories, the lives that fell through the cracks as physicians strained to serve their patients within the obscurity of gray area when their state laws and duties to well-being were in conflict.

We shared a day of mourning – not only for the right lost but also for the lives to come.

More: The day that Roe v. Wade fell: Panic, praise at Ohio's abortion clinics

Hours later, Ohio banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest as the “heartbeat bill” came into effect, and sources indicated that a full ban looms in the near future.

Days later, I felt sickened by the news of the 10-year-old who traveled to Indiana for an abortion, further confirmed as a Columbus man was recently charged with her rape.

'We felt the irony on Independence Day'

On July 8, President Biden signed an executive order to protect access to reproductive healthcare services, specifically denouncing Ohio’s abortion restrictions as he presented our state as a case study to an international audience by citing the instance of the 10-year-old girl.

As he called on the women of America to “determine the outcome of this issue” and reclaim their rights, I was left confused by this ambiguity.

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We know that more children will be without parents in a state already with thousands up for adoption and tens of thousands in foster care.

We felt the irony on Independence Day as we celebrated the gift of freedom.

We understand the failed separation of church and state – that the problem comes not with the opinion but with its imposition on others.

More: Abortion rights helped lower teen pregnancy. Now Gen Z girls might have those rights taken away.

We recognize the hypocrisy as many “pro-life” politicians have no qualms once a child has been born and is a victim of sexual assault or facing the barrel of an AR-15.

We foresee the extensive implications of overturning Roe v. Wade, all rooted in maternal well-being: the separation of social strata as privilege allows interstate travel and education access is limited as youth become increasingly trapped by their circumstances.

As a member of Gen Z, it still appalls me that autonomy is perceived not as a given but a choice, let alone a controversy.

'We are already more selective about motherhood'

We young people have never known life without Roe v. Wade until now, and I struggle to wrap my mind around these events as the consequences of the overturn continue to unfold before us at breakneck speed.

As a 19-year-old just coming into my sense of agency, I felt paralyzed by ineffectuality as our state took this large step in regression.

We are already more selective about motherhood. Our careerist inclinations have us postpone it in fear of the motherhood penalty. The climate crisis pushes us to question the ethics of bringing children into a potentially unlivable world.

We count how many children we can sustain by dividing our earnings by the increasing cost of higher education, acknowledging the costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care.

More: 'My heart aches': Ohio college students confront, celebrate the overturning of Roe v. Wade

Although we have long seen past the guise of pregnancy as simply a beautiful fortune in a person’s life, it is now clearly demarcated as a time in which a person is at their most vulnerable, at the mercy of all but their own free will.

We are a generation of consequence that cannot be ignored, actively shaping the world with every passing moment. While we have been mobilized by issues such as racial justice, climate change, and gun control in recent years, we now take to this matter which seems to have bled through time.

'We must not give in to paralysis'

Bracing resistance, we maintain hope in our impact as we protest, volunteer, and donate. We are generating noise on social media, challenging friends and family, being proactive about birth control, running for office, and becoming the next medical professionals. We are voting to seize at, collect, and mend the shards of our shattered collective freedom.

More: Conversation: Is Ohio's abortion law ''quite barbaric' or saving 'innocent victims?'

So in my Gen Z nature, I urge you – whoever you are and whatever your stance – to reconsider what it truly means to “save a life,” understanding that existence is a condition, not a number to be tallied.

We can no longer afford to skirt around this topic of conversation as “too political” – we cannot let it go stale.

Through the right to abortion, people can reclaim control of their own destiny; without it, for more than half of Ohio’s population, autonomy is conditional. As tempting as it may be after enduring shock after shock, we must not give in to paralysis.

Tara Alahakoon is a student journalist from Columbus. She is a sophomore at Amherst College studying English on a pre-medical track.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: The impact Roe v. Wade decision has had on Gen Z Ohioans