It seems almost inevitable that the landmark 1970 Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion in the United States, will be overturned. In his leaked opinion, Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the highest court in the land should leave the issue of abortion to the states because there is no mention of abortion in the US Constitution.

Relinquishing states responsibility to protect access to abortion means that red states will be able to not only ban, but also prosecute people who receive or perform abortions. Although women’s political power has increased over the years, they are still far from the level of representation enjoyed by men.

It is high time that women had a greater say in the laws that affect them. Creating laws that deny women the right to be healthy and happy has no place in a country that prides itself on equality.

Six of the nine Supreme Court justices are men. One of the three female judges, Amy Barrett, was a member of the People of Praise Catholic cult, which prided itself on protecting patriarchal values ​​and traditional gender roles before joining the court.

The current Congress has more women than ever: 144 women out of 535 voting members who currently sit between the Senate and the House of Representatives. This means that a government body made up of more than 70% men will be responsible for making decisions that do not concern them.

This kind of supermajority effectively means that women, who make up more than 50% of the US population, won’t have a say in what happens to their bodies. With these sorts of decisions essentially left to the discretion of a male-dominated Congress, it’s worrisome to think of laws that could pass without input from the people they primarily affect.

To get an idea of ​​what at least one right-wing politician thinks of women, let’s look at what Michigan State House candidate Robert Regan told his daughters: “If rape is inevitable, you should just lie down and enjoy it.

While Regan’s comment does not represent the sentiments of all men or even all GOPs, I’m sure it is beyond alarming to anyone, especially anyone who has ever been the victim of a sex crime, that someone like him can receive a singular vote.

The man who is responsible for a pregnancy has no legal responsibility for that child until it is born. If this case is reversed, nothing will change for the father, but everything will change for the mother. She could be required by law to carry her baby to term, whether it is a threat to her health or that of the fetus or whether the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

We live in a time where legally, women have the same rights as men. Overthrow Roe v. Wade would be a blow to women’s right to control their own bodies. We need to hear more women’s voices in these conversations, not men’s.

CA DeJong (he/him) is a secular humanist studying journalism at IU.