The End To Abortions.

June 24, 2022- The United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing abortions to be banned nationwide. Arkansas was one of the many to ban abortion. Students share feelings ranging from outrage to joy over the decision and discuss the morality of abortion procedures itself.

June 29, 2022 protesters rally at the state capitol in Little Rock against the Supreme Court decision to ban abortions. Photographer Destiny Mbuthia went to the protest and reported on protestors thoughts and opinions as the Arkansas government began to strictly outlaw abortion entirely.

2022 -- The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 case Roe v. Wade, which established access to abortions as a federal right in the United states in the ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The decision to overturn the former case dismantled nearly 50 years of legal protection for reproductive rights, sending shock waves throughout the country.

Reactions to the Court’s decision varied vastly among citizens and has led some into vigorous debate over whether or not the decision was in the best interest of the nation and women as a whole.

Abortion has become one of the key topics of debate between political discussions. Students from the school are comparatively divided over their opinions over the Supreme Court’s decision.

Many students have claimed they were shocked by the court’s decision, but senior Ross Holloway saw this decision as a setback in America upholding its core values.

“I felt very disappointed [when Roe v. Wade was overturned]. I feel like it was a step back in our democracy, especially since that was a law created in the 70s,” Holloway said. “I felt like it wasn’t as much as a political thing as much as it was a religious thing. I felt that was a kind of violation of what the United States stands for. It felt like church was being placed into politics… I feel like there hasn’t been any democratic growth throughout those past years if this [religious beliefs in politics] is still an issue.”

In the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion and that “the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives,” as published in the court’s papers after the ruling. The court considered the question of whether the Constitution confers the right to abortion, and agreed that the ruling in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey—which upheld the decision in Roe v. Wade that a person retains the right to have an abortion—were not assessed effectively and thus decided to overturn both.

Despite this statement from the court, many citizens believe that the decision was primarily due to religious beliefs, specifically Christian beliefs. Holloway, a proclaimed

“As a Christian, I feel like my religion shouldn’t get in the way of my political views. I don’t think my religion should be involved in my political views because not everyone in the United States is a Christian, and I shouldn’t push that on to anyone,” Holloway said.

Before the courts announced their decision, the court opinions were leaked May 2, showing their intent to overturn the previous case’s decision to allow abortion. The leaked opinions sparked debates and rallies around the U.S. However, after the overturning was announced, the decision of whether or not abortion would be legal was left to individual states. With Arkansas being a “red state,” sophomore Marika Farr was not shocked when the state announced that all cases of abortion would be illegal, except in the case to save the life of the pregnant person.

“Knowing that we live in a red state, the next move was very predictable [after the overturning]. The bodily autonomy of women would be left in the hands of people above us,” Farr said.

Senior Grace White is a self-proclaimed Republican and believes that in, abortion debates, Republicans are criticized by negative stereotypes. She wants others to understand that not all Republicans share the same views.

Christian, agrees with these sentiments and does not think that others’ religious views should affect how others live.

Arkansas’ 2022 Abortion Laws

“I think some [Republicans] do [get a bad rapport in regards to abortion] because some see us as killers and stuff like that, but it is just an opinion. There is a variety of us. Some of us are really stupid, and they don’t think, and some understand others opinions and want to make differences with them, instead of going against them,” White said. “As my political opinion, we want the best thing for women. We don’t want people to think that Republicans are like ‘we hate women’. We want to have a softer voice on it, and we understand that some think that this is the best option, but there are other opportunities.”

> “trigger ban”, which prohibits abortions at all stages of prenancy, without speaking of express constitutional or statutory protections

> retains targeted regulation of abortion providers(TRAP) laws related to facilities, admitting privileges and transfer agree and repoting on, resrictions of the providing abortion are to licesned physcians & restrictions of providers from using telemedicine for the provision of abortion care