By Lucas Flaherty
In 1973, under the pseudonym Jane Roe, Norma McCorvey won her case in the Roe v. Wade trial. The Supreme Court protected a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without government restriction. On May 2, 2022, 50 years later, a leak from the Supreme Court revealed plans to overturn the case, restricting abortion rights once again. The subsequent uproar has led to persistent protests outside the Supreme Court and even outside the houses of some Justices. Alongside the pro-choice protests, people from many other movements continue to protest the Supreme Court’s decisions related to climate, race, and LGBTQIA+ rights. While the relative similarities between these issues may seem minimal, they intersect greatly and combine into one big movement.
The recent climate and reproductive justice protests at the Supreme Court have very similar implications. Oftentimes, climate activists direct their chants at Congress or international forums, but just a few weeks ago, Wynn Bruce, a climate activist, set himself on fire in front of the Supreme Court to protest a case about the EPA (New York Times, 2022). This tragic demonstration proved the deadly harm of Supreme Court justices who can’t understand the struggles that will come as a result of their actions.
While these measures may seem drastic, they send a powerful message to those who witness them, sparking passion and perseverance in the minds of millions. This is the power of protest. We must maintain the freedom to speak our minds and fight for our rights. Intersectional protest gives the people an opportunity to make change in both discussions of abortion access and the climate crisis.
The intersection between climate change and reproductive health exists largely due to the disproportionate effects that the climate crisis has on women. Climate-induced devastation disproportionately affects low-income women because of things like increased domestic assault rates and agriculture problems, as well as a higher rate of economic shock during climate-related disasters. This leads to intensified hazards when it comes to reproductive health as it strictly limits access to healthcare on all fronts (Nexus Media, 2022). There are also many environmental effects that contribute to maternal and fetal health. Many consequences of the climate crisis, such as rising temperatures, air pollution, and extreme weather, along with the decreasing access to reproductive health services, have contributed to higher rates of infant and maternal mortality (Birth Equity, 2021). This devastating tie between reproductive health and climate change is very apparent and another reason why many climate activists showed up to protest the potential overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision.
The impacts of the climate crisis also emphasize how racial inequality has had a significant impact on access to reproductive health. Throughout the history of the U.S., systemic racial inequality has been present and made increasingly noticeable by the impacts of climate change as well as access to abortion and reproductive health. As natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, and fires continue to worsen, BIPOC are most affected because of systemic racism that reduces access to affordable healthcare and intensifies discrimination in the housing market. The feedback loop continues as lower-income housing often allows for a higher risk of destruction from natural disasters. This leaves many minorities vulnerable to all of the aforementioned effects and leaves women with fewer options in terms of their reproductive health. For many wealthy people, often white, access to abortion or climate devastation may never be a problem. Both healthcare and environmental crises always hit low-income women first. Many members of the Supreme Court and Congress are white, publicly acclaimed, and relatively wealthy. This combination of identities makes empathy toward working-class BIPOC women far more difficult. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and we fail to act on climate change, the United States government will fail their most vulnerable citizens.
Works Cited
Cameron, Chris. “Climate Activist Dies after Setting Himself on Fire at Supreme Court.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/us/politics/climate-activist-self-immolation-supreme-court.html.
May 05, 2022 Khalil Shahyd. “The Climate Crisis Is a Reproductive Justice Issue.” NRDC, 9 May 2022, www.nrdc.org/experts/khalil-shahyd/climate-crisis-reproductive-justice-issue.
“Protesters Rally Outside US Supreme Court Justices’ Homes Ahead of pro-Choice Marches.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 13 May 2022, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/13/us-abortion-protests-pro-choice-marches.
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