On Friday, it was reported that the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade, the case that federally guarantees the right to an abortion. As a result of the announcement, there were massive protests in major U.S. cities, and many social media users expressed grief and outrage over the news.
J. Carter, Esq. is the managing attorney at Carter Law Group, an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Law School, and a member of the Supreme Court Attorney Bar.
In an email, Carter, an attorney specializing in family, entertainment, business, and estate law, discussed the Roe v. Wade reversal, some of the consequences of this landmark decision, and how the reverse will disproportionately affect marginalized people.
Deborah Gassam Asare: What were your initial reactions to the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade? How would this choice affect our nation?
Jehan “J.” Carter: Blacks make up less than 5% of the U.S. legal profession. There are even fewer Black attorneys than are members of the Supreme Court Attorney Bar, of which I have the privilege to be a member.
The recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade serves as a crucial reminder of why we must continue to work for diversity in the legal profession, even in the highest courts. In this light, I am more enthusiastic than ever about Ketanji Brown Jackson joining the Court.
I am however dismayed that the conservative Supreme Court justices, based on their political ties and personal convictions, could reverse 50 years of precedent with a single ruling.
My generation and subsequent generations of women today have fewer rights over our bodies than our moms did.
I am concerned that this could result in the deaths of more women and the overturning of other privacy laws, such as those about contraceptives, marriage equality, and homosexual rights, which Justice Clarence Thomas stated should be revisited in his written decision.
Currently, 26 states have either outright abortion prohibitions, six- to eight-week abortion bans, or severe restrictions.
Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming are “trigger” states whose abortion bans and restrictions went into force automatically when Roe v.
Wade was overruled. Even though I was lucky enough to be sworn in by all the justices, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, shortly before she passed away, I am certain that this precedent-setting decision has her rolling in her grave.
Regardless of your stance on the matter, this is a tragic time for the United States.
A blazer-wearing, brown-skinned Black woman with long, straight hair and a smile.
Share: Who will be most negatively affected by this choice?
Carter: I believe this ruling will have the greatest impact on poor women of colour and pregnant rape victims.
In addition, they may not be able to take more than one day off work or have daycare for their other children while travelling to a state that does not restrict or ban abortions.
This ruling does not establish an exemption for women who have been raped, including adolescents who are incest victims.
It does, however, permit states to make exceptions for medical crises, therefore states such as Texas, Louisiana, Idaho, and Missouri have this provision, although they all define medical emergencies differently, adding to the confusion around this judgment.
Share: Some pro-life individuals have asserted that Planned Parenthood was founded to control the African-American population. What do you think about this assertion?
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Carter: Abortion is a difficult issue for most people, but I believe Black Americans are particularly divided on this issue due to religious differences and the fact that Planned Parenthoods have historically been made more accessible than primary care clinics in poor Black neighbourhoods, which at the very least gives the impression that the government was more willing to kill Black babies than to provide proper healthcare to Black women in these same communities, and some would even say a meth lab.
Some have supported this theory by pointing out that in 1939, Margaret Sanger, one of the founders of Planned Parenthood, launched the Negro Project alongside Black leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Reverend Adam Clayton Powell to provide access to birth control in southern Black communities.
It is documented that Sanger lost control of the project to white male leadership with different goals, despite claims that the project’s purpose was to reduce mistrust in a racist healthcare system by placing Black physicians and nurses in these communities.
