Opinion: Roe v Wade decision shows more battles ahead for all women

Women's rights are equal and we shouldn't have to take to the streets for that to be recognised Photo / AP

OPINION

The news of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade has reverberated across the world.

A mixture of shock and disbelief that a seemingly modern country could suddenly turn the clock back nearly 50 years for millions of women.

While the Justices' decision doesn't make abortion illegal, it leaves the question of abortion rights up to individual states to decide. As a result nearly half the states either have trigger laws in place that banned abortion once the decision was made or are working on legislation that will do so.

And while that decision has little or no bearing on what happens here in New Zealand it feels as though it does - because it is so wrong.

I remember going to a party in the months before Donald Trump was elected and discussing the fact that if he was elected the landmark abortion ruling would likely be overturned. Nobody really cared or understood what I was talking about.

That's hardly surprising as it isn't exactly fun party chat and we live in a progressive country where the idea that a law that gave women the right to choose what happens to their bodies would be in danger of being struck down seems unthinkable.

But here we are and the unthinkable has happened. Over the past week anger, disbelief and sadness has filled social media, television, newspapers, online news sites and talkback radio.

There are many, may reasons why a woman may want to have an abortion or even explore that as an option Photo / AP

So why do we feel so strongly about something that has occurred in a country across the world? A country where mass shootings happen regularly and we often hear ourselves saying 'only in America'?

Because women everywhere have to fight hard for our rights. Harder than men on nearly every front. The right to vote, the right to equal pay, the right to be taken seriously and heard, the right not to experience gender-based violence, the right to sit in boardrooms, the right to not be discriminated against.

But the ultimate right for us is to be able to decide how, when and if we have children. We get to choose what happens to our bodies, not someone else, ever.

Our rights are fundamental human rights and we shouldn't have to take to the streets for that to be recognised.

As feminist and women's rights activist Gloria Steinem said in response to the ruling: "Obviously, without the right of women and men to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy."

It is too simple and possibly shows a certain privilege to suggest that people will now have to take more responsibility for their contraception and family planning.

There are many, many reasons why a woman may want to have an abortion or even explore that as an option including rape, life-threatening health defects, incest, no access to contraception or education, the list goes on.

And it is far too simple to think that being pro-life extends to caring about what happens to the child after it is born.

This decision in a far-off land brings home to us that in 2022, in a developed nation, our rights as women can be taken away by a handful of people.

For women in many countries, their rights battle is just beginning and it is a very real struggle every single day. Whether it is to live free from violence, to be able to go to school, to learn to drive, or even be able to hold a passport, all things we take for granted.

That's what makes this ruling by the Supreme Court so chilling. What chance do our sisters around the world still battling for the very basic of rights have if this can happen in the 'Land of the Free'.