Many courthouses around the nation, including the steps of the Supreme Court, erupted in protest in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision this summer.
American women marched and chanted in opposition of what they alleged to be severe government intervention into private matters.
Though the immediate aftermath was felt across the world- with Britain, France, and Germany’s leaders publicly condemning the decision-, the long-term effects of this decision are only beginning to surface.
“I feel that if you are not a woman, and you are not in that particular woman’s shoes you should not have the right to control whether or not she carries into the world a new life.” said Ivy Grenage, a former Winthrop History Education major.
Grenage’s sentiment is not unpopular in the Palmetto State. Republican Sen. Katrina Shealy stated to the 41 men in the South Carolina Senate that they would be better off “listening to their wives, daughters, mothers, granddaughters and looking at the faces of the girls in Sunday School classes at their churches.”
She continued to condemn their rhetoric in an impassioned speech: “You want to believe that God is wanting you to push a bill through with no exceptions that kill mothers and ruins the lives of children — lets mothers bring home babies to bury them — then I think you’re miscommunicating with God. Or maybe you aren’t communicating with Him at all,” Shealy said before senators added a proposal allowing abortions if a fetus cannot survive outside the womb.
Winthrop University’s campus has had spirited debate on abortion access in South Carolina. The Johnsonian released an article in mid September with varying opinions on the failed near-total abortion ban passing through the Palmetto State’s legislature.
One stakeholder in this debate that many feel were not adequately included was black and minority women. Black women are 3.5 percent more likely to die because of pregnancy related issues according to a study conducted by the Population Reference Bureau Those causes of death include but are not limited to Postpartum Cardiomyopathy, Preeclampsia, and Eclampsia. These death rates also seem to be higher in black women. The Symptoms of Preeclampsia and Eclampsia include nausea and vomiting, high blood pressure, shortness of breath due to fluid in the lungs, and changes in vision including temporary loss of vision according to the Mayo Clinic. These symptoms can be detected early on in pregnancy before preeclampsia or eclampsia is diagnosed, which is usually around 20 weeks. Patients have the option to take low doses of aspirin in order to lower their blood pressure and they also have the option of an abortion.
In states like Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas though, abortions have been banned with no exemption for any circumstance. Preeclampsia and Eclampsia untreated can lead to death and severe health complications for the mother and the fetus.
Ectopic pregnancies are another condition that can create pregnancy complications. Ectopic pregnancies are pregnancies that take place outside of the uterus. The most common treatment for ectopic pregnancies is a medication called methotrexate which essentially eliminates the pregnancy and is still considered an abortion. States who have a complete ban on abortion or have no exception for ectopic pregnancies put women at risk of death because eliminating the pregnancy is the only way to cure an ectopic pregnancy.
Black women and women of color are at the highest risk to have these conditions during pregnancy, and they are also at the top of the poverty list. States like Nevada and Colorado have said that state funds cannot be used for abortions at all which puts women of color who are below the poverty line at a higher risk of death. As a result of the overturning of Roe V. Wade and states like Texas implementing the heartbeat bill women of color have begun to fear for their lives even more than before. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Says “This is a win for thousands of unborn Texans I’m proud to defend those who do not yet have a voice.” Many women ask, however, what about those who do have a voice?