Amanda Cheng, Period 8, 4/25/22

Amanda Cheng

Period 8

4/25/22

• What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

• How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

The most recent and big news headers today is the leaked Supreme Court draft of overturning Roe v. Wade. For the past 50 years, the decision of Roe v. Wade was a triumph for women. It expanded the autonomy of women, where the choice of what they do with their bodies relied on them and not government officials. As a women, my perspective of this issue was not about the recently fertilized egg, but more of the oppression of women. Unwanted pregnancy, especially due to rape, means a lifetime investment in another human being. An investment in time, money, energy, and possible sacrifices in one’s life. A child is a life changing moment and a decision  that should rely on the parents, not the government. And more specifically, the power of deciding should weigh on the women, since it is our bodies. 

Writing this blog reminds me of the zombies unit we are currently doing. The lack of autonomy in zombies mirrors the same lack of autonomy over women’s bodies due to the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade. The power of deciding an abortion would shift from the people to the hands of the government. 

If the issue was about saving lives of unborn children, then there should be more focus on reforming foster care systems, and increasing health care assistance and child care assistance. Denying abortion is also a disadvantage for the lower class, where many don’t have the money to support another human being. 

I guess politically, my perspective falls in the “pro-choice” side. In my AP Government class, Roe v. Wade is an essential supreme court case needed for the AP exam. It is an example of expanding women’s human rights and autonomy. The decision of the Supreme Court limits and oppresses women, especially the lower class. It creates an inequality of power between genders. The votes towards overturning Roe v. Wade is all men, with the exception of Amy Coney Barrett. The choice of abortion is not given to women, but made by men.