Roe reversal could lead to one-child policy

In order to overturn Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Court had to undo a “right to privacy” interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause. By removing this protection, it allows the federal or state governments to make decisions about women’s bodies. There’s nothing in their ruling that means this type of government intrusion into our reproductive decisions will always be used to insure a baby will be born. With a change in leadership (for example, a climate-focused president concerned about the carbon footprint of large families) this same rollback of privacy rights could be used to force women to have abortions, like China’s one-child policy. Without families having the right to privacy to make their own reproductive decisions, we will be victim to the government’s whims on what we can and can’t do with our family planning.

Jason Snell

Cedar Rapids