The overturning of Roe v. Wade is an egregious error on behalf of the Supreme Court.

America is known throughout the world for its diversity and freedom, even given the title “The Land of the Free.” But if that’s the case, why are our freedoms and rights being threatened by our own government?

In 1973, the ruling of Roe v. Wade decided that citizens of the United States had a fundamental right to privacy, which caused the right to have an abortion to be protected by the constitution. On June 24, this was overturned by the Supreme Court. This ruling now allows the separate states of the U.S. to decide whether or not a woman has the right to abortion.

So far 22 states already have laws in place that make them certain to ban abortion within that state. If all of these states do follow through with banning abortion, it will have detrimental effects on many citizens throughout the country.

You may be wondering, what is so bad with abortions being banned in states that choose to do so?

Well one important fact that wasn’t acknowledged by the court is that this is removing the citizens human right to bodily autonomy. By allowing states to have a choice in what an individual does with their body, it takes us one step closer to abolishing all human rights.

All people should be allowed to choose what they do with their own body without the influence of the state. It also threatens religious freedom, due to both the Jewish and Islamic religions having precedents for abortion.

That is only one problem of many with the legality of banning abortion in certain states.

Another problem that arises with this is that with some states forcing women to give birth, is the fact that the government is doing nothing to aid these mothers. Within the United States there is currently a shortage of formula to feed babies. The mothers will be forced to feed these children, without America even having the proper amount of food and nutrients needed to sustain the newly born lives, and the children will be forced to go hungry.

This makes it harder for the poorer citizens of the United States to be able to deal with these new laws, which highlights the inequality of these laws, especially seeing as the number of people of color living in poverty compared to white citizens is much higher.

Additionally, of the five justices who ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, four of them were male whilst one was female. Of the three females on the court, two of them voted to uphold Roe v. Wade.

Of the five justices that ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, two of them have allegations of sexually assaulting women. According to NPR, 64% of Americans didn’t want Roe v. Wade to be overturned, which is the majority. Men, who are not affected by the banning of abortions, should not have a say in whether or not they should be protected.

There are many other problems and complications with the overturning of Roe v. Wade and you may be wondering what you can do to take a stand against the Supreme Court in this matter. To help the cause you can join protests, call or text your senators to make sure they know how unjust the ruling is, and most importantly you should spread the word about this.

Making sure the Supreme Court knows how much the country disagrees with the ruling is crucial if we want to make a difference.

As a 14-year-old, it sickens me to know that the generation before me had more rights then I do now. Until we are guaranteed our basic human rights and autonomy, no one in this country will be safe.

Joella Bauza is a Fredonia resident and high school student.