When the issue of abortion is debated, the paramount case discussed is Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade is a Supreme Court case from 1972 that made abortion legal by federal standards. No other Supreme Court case has been so central to the feminist movement that has arisen in our country.

States could no longer outlaw abortions in the first trimester, as this violated the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendment, which maintained the common man's right to privacy. The government does not have the right to control what a woman does with her body in this sense.

Before this case came to light, the legality of abortion was decided by the states- most states had made abortion a crime unless the mother's life was severely in danger, so women were reduced to unsanitary and unsafe measures if they sought out an abortion, seeking out unlicensed physicians to perform the surgery or even doing it themselves. This resulted in medical catastrophes more often than not.

Abortion was never talked about before it was legalized, but it happened just as often, if not more when it was illegal. Nowadays, contraception such as condoms and birth control is made more accessible to young people, and safe sex is talked about more now than it was forty years ago. Of course, many states still preach abstinence-only sex education, but many states are becoming more frank with the youth about the dangers and intricacies of safe sex practices.

We have come a long way in terms of reproductive and contraceptive rights, but we still have a long way to go. While abortion is legal, many states have found small loopholes and instituted certain restrictions to make women who seek abortions jump through hoops.

While it isn't the best situation for women, it is much better than it was fifty years ago, before Roe v. Wade.

I am very much pro-choice. I believe that a woman should be able to choose what happens to her body because ultimately, the consequences, the social stigma, the physical strain, all falls directly upon her. A bunch of old white men should not deem whether or not a woman must bring a child into this world.

I believe in a separation of church and state, and therefore believe that a senator's religious beliefs should not dictate how they vote on abortion laws.

That being said, I understand why people are pro-life; abortion is a scary subject to even think about, much less go through with. I understand why it is controversial, but that does not change the fact that it has been deemed a constitutional right.

However, my point is that banning abortion does not actually end abortions- it just ends safe abortions. Women are not going to stop seeking out abortions if our Supreme Court decides to ban them like it was previously; they are just going to revert back to the old ways of obtaining abortions. Women died because of these practices, and for us to force them to return to these back-alley ways is just barbaric on our country's part.