The Leap Backwards is Just Beginning 

This past Friday, the United States took a major step backwards in civil and women’s rights when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving the legality of abortion at the mercy of the states. 

This is seen by many as an afornt to women’s rights and will likely causes multitude of deaths– either by complications with the pregnancy or unsafe abortions.

While Americans have been rightfully upset about this, the flames of our voices need to raise higher– because the Supreme Court isn’t stopping at abortion. 

In his opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas made it clear that this overturning of Roe creates a precedent that can spread to other court cases– specifically Griswold vs. Connecticut and Obergefell v. Hodges.

The former case rules a right to obtain contraceptives, while the latter rules a right to same-sex marriage: both ruled under the fourteenth amendment, which Thomas views as erroneous. 

As a gay man, it’s sickening to think my legitimacy as a human being could be overruled in some states based solely on who I would want to marry. Furthermore, the rejection of same sex relationship in our societal norms will only lead to an increase in mental health problems and homophobia within young LGBT+ adults, whom already experience a suicide rate four times more likely than their peers. 

This combined with the lack of contraceptives and the lack of safe abortions makes one thing clear: a lot of people are going to die because of things we already decided were right years ago. 

Thus, we need to do everything we can to make sure the state governments do not fall into the Supreme Court’s pitfall. If you are in a state that promotes safe abortions, still contact your representative or senator by calling their D.C. office to make your stance clear.

But what if you’re in a state that does not support abortions? Then this is more of a reason to contact your representative and senator. When the issue of gun rights came about after the recent Uvalde school shooting, the voices of constituents were strong enough to move pro-gun senators into drafting a bipartisan gun control bill. The same can be done for abortions, so call them immediately.

The future of our civil and sexual rights and privacy are in the balance and we need to let our frustration ring loudly or risk being drowned in a darkness we thought we’d never see again.

This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.