People in D.C. protested for better awareness and action taken to improve women’s rights during the Women’s March. Photo courtesy of Abby Matson

In 1973, the Supreme Court case known as Roe v. Wade settled a government issue on abortion. The final decision stated that abortions are legal, but the states have the power to restrict details if wanted. Programs such as Planned Parenthood were created to help with access to birth control and abortion clinics. Both Roe v. Wade and programs like Planned Parenthood are being threatened by new abortion laws being passed in different states, creating a state of hysteria for women around the United States. Why should a group of old, white congressmen be allowed to make decisions for all women? They shouldn’t.

Here in Bethesda there are protesters who line up by the Wildwood Shopping Center with anti-abortion posters and other signs claiming the wrongdoings of abortions. Of course, peaceful protests are legally allowed and are protected by the bill of rights, but protesting abortion outside of a public high school is inappropriate. High schoolers don’t want to go to lunch at Starbucks and see people in their face talking about a subject with mature content. As someone who is pro choice, I would be very angry and frustrated with these protesters if I saw them during school hours, and considering that the state we live in is largely liberal, I think many other students would agree.

Laws in some southern states such as Kentucky and Georgia have restricted abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, and Alabama has even restricted abortions completely with few exceptions. The men and few women who have signed the bills in these states have essentially taken away human rights to women who were granted their abortion rights back in 1973. Although there was an exception that states may make restrictions in Roe v. Wade, the lengths these states have gone through and the horrific things these representatives have said should show people in higher positions their real intentions.

It is clear that this is not an attempt to protect lives, but rather an attack against women. If Republican representatives truly wanted to protect life, first of all, they would do something about gun control considering the fact that there was just another mass shooting at Virginia Beach last week. Also, instead of trying to force women to have children, they could try to prevent unwanted pregnancies by funding Planned Parenthood so women are able to access affordable birth control. For special cases such as rape, maternal danger during pregnancy and a child being born with a severe defect that they will only live for a few hours after birth, abortion should be a given option by the government. There is no one who is better suited to make such a hard decision for the pregnant woman than the woman herself.

Many people think that people who are pro choice are also pro abortion. Pro choice means that one believes each person has the choice to do what they think is best with their body. The purpose of being pro choice is to do the right thing and to make sure that people are more concerned with their own lives than of the lives of others in a critical situation such as pregnancy. These abortions laws are destroying the success of Roe v. Wade, and are showing the citizens of this country the true intentions of our government in recent years.