The Independent Florida Alligator
This June, the U.S. Supreme Court officially reversed Roe v. Wade: the case responsible for upholding Americans’ abortion rights. While Roe v. Wade’s reversal has made abortion a highly discussed topic, it’s also increased the spread of misinformation. Given the current political climate, it’s important that we surround ourselves with the facts about abortion.
An abortion is a pregnancy termination. Abortion is an all-encompassing term that refers to either induced or spontaneous situations. An induced abortion refers to intentionally ending a pregnancy. A spontaneous abortion refers to an unintentional miscarriage. Either of these may be completed by medications or a procedure.
Medications can be used to end a pregnancy or may be used to help someone expel a miscarriage from the uterus. The medications used are usually administered in a two-step process. The first medication stops hormones from supplying the inside lining of the uterus that holds the pregnancy. Usually, people don’t notice many effects after this first pill, but occasionally, patients experience some bleeding. The second medication is taken 24 to 72 hours after the first medication and causes the cervix to soften and the uterus to contract to expel the pregnancy. Usually, patients experience cramping and bleeding within about four hours of taking the second medication. All medications have risks, but this combination has been shown to be very safe by many research studies. Patients are counseled about how much bleeding is normal and what symptoms would require someone to be seen by a medical provider.
During the first trimester, some individuals choose a procedure to end a pregnancy called a suction dilation and curettage. This can be performed while the patient is awake with local anesthesia, moderately sedated or all the way asleep with general anesthesia. Anesthesia options depend on where the patient receives care, what the facility can provide and the patient’s health problems. During the procedure, suction is used to remove the pregnancy from the uterus. All medical procedures have risks, but this procedure is overall very safe.
In the second trimester, an abortion can also be performed using medications or a procedure. For a second trimester medical abortion, a patient would be admitted to the hospital to receive medications and be monitored until the pregnancy is expelled. After 14 weeks, if a patient elects for a procedural abortion, the procedure is called a dilation and evacuation, and usually involves a mixture of techniques to remove the pregnancy from the uterus.
An abortion is considered medically necessary if the pregnant person’s life is at risk. For example, if a pregnant person has a heavy amount of bleeding, they may require the pregnancy be removed to save their life. Another example is an infection of the uterus during pregnancy, which is rare, but may become so severe that the pregnancy would have to be removed in order to stop the infection from worsening.
There are some medical conditions that can significantly worsen during pregnancy or have treatments that cannot be used during pregnancy. Therefore, medical providers may recommend pregnancy termination to preserve the life of the pregnant person or prevent serious or permanent injury to various organs. The most common of these conditions involve diseases of the heart, lungs, kidneys, immune system or cancer.
Abortions do not increase someone’s risk of cancer. Abortions don’t cause increased risk of infertility, miscarriages, birth defects or ectopic pregnancies. Fetuses in the first or second trimester cannot feel pain. The parts of the brain that can recognize and respond to pain don’t form until the third trimester.
Some people believe a large proportion of abortions happen late in pregnancy. But, over 90% of abortions occur in the first trimester – less than 14 weeks along. When abortions happen in the second trimester, the majority are due to fetal anomalies that aren’t compatible with life or may cause significant suffering.
Alexandra Monaco is a clinical assistant professor at the UF Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Ever since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, the conversation about abortion has been brought up everywhere. As if partisanship wasn’t enough, the question of abortion’s place in America has further divided the country. How can we call ourselves the United States if we start to believe those who oppose our ideas are close-minded and immoral?
The good news is there’s hope. This country was founded on the principles of freedom of speech and the belief in the power of civil discourse and compromise. In our short history, we have faced major disagreements on slavery, civil rights, prohibition and women’s rights.
In all these previous arguments, we solved them with compromises of the law. It was the amendments to the Constitution that settled these disagreements for the nation. But how could making a law do so much?
Making an amendment is no joke. It’s taking the Constitution and adding or redacting something to it. Due to its importance, the process is long and arduous. Either two-thirds of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate or two-thirds of state legislatures calling a convention need to be reached to do so.
If either method occurs, then the amendment has to win three-fourths majority from the state legislatures or conventions — formed by each state for ratification. This process could take years, but it ensures a majority of the country wants to enact the amendment.
However, Roe wasn’t an amendment.
The legal reasoning for Roe was the government cannot ban abortions prior to fetal viability because it violated a person’s right to privacy. They claimed if an abortion is done in private where only a doctor and their patient know, then the goverment could never find out about the abortion unless they broke the right to privacy of the doctor-patient confidentiality clause.
The court case cited the 14th Amendment’s due process clause, claiming “liberty” implies the right to privacy. The reason for the 14th Amendment, however, was to abolish slavery.
The Supreme Court took an amendment out of context and applied it to a different situation to push their own political agenda. The Supreme Court in 2022 realized this mistake which led them to overturn Roe. The Supreme Court has the power and responsibility to make sure any action or law committed by the legislative or executive branch adheres to the Constitution, the supreme law of the land.
They don’t decide whether something should be done. They are simply there to ensure what’s being done is legally allowed. To interpret the Constitution to fit their personal ideas is wrong because it strips the power from the people. It’s the people who should get to decide how they want their country to run.
It’s up to the people to find compromises and make decisions for themselves through the people they elected into office. The Constitution doesn’t say a person has a right to an abortion, but it also doesn’t say a person doesn’t have a right to an abortion.
It’s up to the people to decide for themselves. Roe stripped the people of the choice and now that it has been overturned, it’s up for the people of each state to choose what they want their state to be like.
This Supreme Court has taken power from the federal government and given it back to the people. So whether your stance is pro-abortion or anti-abortion, you now get to help choose for your state instead of it being decided for you without your input.
Angel Cañón is a UF mechanical engineering sophomore.
I was fortunate enough to be raised in a household where abortion was always seen as health care. It was also considered something that could be taken for granted.
Growing up in Connecticut — a generally blue state — I had always seen Roe v. Wade as the rightful law of the land. Largely due to our race and class background, my family and I didn’t consider how reproductive rights weren’t granted equally to all people within our nation's borders, or seriously consider the possibility of it being overturned.
The overturn of Roe alarms me both abstractly and materially.
Abstractly, it demonstrates the mask-off approach many legislators and politicians have taken regarding their discriminatory beliefs. They no longer pretend to have any respect for the autonomy of people who can reproduce. There’s no facade of separation between church and state or legitimacy given to the struggles and legal processes which led to Roe’s original ruling 50 years ago.
Materially, the overturn of Roe scares me as someone who can reproduce and doesn’t want to. I have used my autonomy to make decisions about sex that render abortion a necessary option for me.
For example, my struggles with mental illness make hormone-altering birth control methods risky and even dangerous. My weight lowers the efficacy of over-the-counter contraceptive Plan B. I have to call my doctor and get a prescription in order to access the more effective Ella brand morning after pill. The possibility of becoming pregnant is very real for me. I need to know I can get an abortion if I need one.
Fortunately, I come from a family with the financial resources and belief systems to support me should I need an abortion. This luck of the draw is what comforts me on days when my period is late, and it is what comforted me on the day the ruling was overturned. However, millions of Americans don’t have the same support. Abortions will continue to happen whether they are legally protected. It’s our job to ensure that everyone who wants an abortion can continue to safely and affordably access them.
We need to support local abortion networks. We need to support each other financially. We need to offer rides, information and emotional support to those who need them. But maybe, most importantly, we need to identify the larger struggles to which the struggle for reproductive freedoms is connected.
For many Americans, Roe and other legal protections didn’t materially impact their reproductive freedom. Although these histories go beyond the scope of this op-ed, it’s necessary to contextualize Roe within the history of reproductive rights for all people living within our nation’s borders.
Struggles don’t exist in a vacuum.
We must identify the connections between attacks on reproductive freedom and those on our LGBTQ siblings, white supremacy, the exploitation of the working class, the climate crisis and every other arm of our current governmental and economic system.
If anything, I hope the overturn of Roe serves as a wake up call for those of us who have existed in a place of relative comfort and privilege throughout our lifetimes.
Ava Kaplan is a UF political science senior.