The successful campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade did not just impact abortion care—it moved us ever closer to a world in which pregnancies belong to the state and not to the women and others with capacity for pregnancy who carry them. Those of us fighting for reproductive justice in the United States must continue to speak about these connections and the fact that abortion law can and will be wielded as a weapon against anyone with capacity for pregnancy whether they are already pregnant, seeking pregnancy, carrying a doomed pregnancy, or even dying from a pregnancy. We already see this in the dozens of states that disregard the wishes of pregnant people by carving them out of living will statutes or courts that force obstetric interventions like C-sections on non-consenting patients, and as described here, the slow slide toward legal protection for embryos.
It’s irresolvable to give an embryo or fetus rights without diminishing the rights of pregnant people. By contrast, it is absolutely possible to show respect for embryos and fetuses without denigrating the decision-making capacities of people who happen to be pregnant. Now, not 50 years from now, is the time to decisively and defiantly stand up for pregnant people and people seeking pregnancy before their status as second-class citizens becomes so deeply entrenched in the law that it is almost impossible to detach.