How to Get Away with…Limiting Individual Freedom?

“Life, liberty, and the pursuit have happiness.” We’ve all heard it before, the foundation of American freedom written into the Declaration of Independence. But who would have thought that this only applied to certain people?? Okay, maybe a lot of people realized this, so in this episode of How to Get Away with Limiting Individual Freedom, let’s investigate the ways in which a woman’s right to choose has been obstructed.

According to Drew Halfmann, the Supreme Court in the United States has had the greatest ability to define what is not a personal right for women within the framework of abortion. Although American voters prefer “middle-of-the-road compromises,” policy propositions on abortion have been polarized for decades. Deana Rohlinger expands on this idea, stating that the Supreme Court has not only been able to determine which restrictions are constitutional, but also address issues raised by pro-choice advocates about the effects of economic inequity on access to abortion services. Restrictions on abortions include waiting periods, mandatory counseling, and a testimony from doctors to verify “basic sanity” (Nadheem). While many argue that these restrictions ensure that a life is not taken senselessly, there is also evidence that restrictions have been used as a way to ensure that white women continue to have more babies than women of color, and to make sure that women are not denied their “identity solely based on motherhood” (Markens). What’s more, when access to abortions are limited, the otherwise safe procedure can be virtually cut off (Kimport). What are the consequences of these legislative and judicial decisions? Not only are decisions about women’s lives being made by men on the assumptions of what womanhood means, but some people are left with no other choice than to risk their health to ultimately make a decision that they feel is best for them.