In early May, news leaked from the Supreme Court that suggested Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that decided people have the right to abortion, might be overturned. 

According to Planned Parenthood, this is the crux of pro-choice ideology — that abortion is a medical right, and as such should be the decision of the pregnant person. 

According to the Missouri School of Medicine, the pro-life argument states that getting an abortion ends a human life. This means that if the government allows abortions, it is condoning murder. For freshman Maddy Hoogenraad, the problem is more complex. 

“If people can make exceptions for certain cases, like if it was non-consensual, then I think I can at least understand their point of view. It’s a complicated issue,” Hoogenraad said. 

Hoogenraad also said she’s pro-choice, and criminalizing abortion would be bad for women in America. 

“If women can’t get abortions, it can affect their education. Like if you get pregnant while you’re still in school, you have to put everything on hold if an abortion isn’t an option,” Hoogenraad said.

According to communications director of American Civil Liberties Union, Lynette Kalsnes, the current override draft will have huge effect on state legislation.

“The draft, if it holds, would overturn Roe and leave the right to be decided by states. About half of the states are poised to essentially overturn Roe and ban abortion right when that happens,” Kalsnes said.

If Roe v. Wade gets overturned, Oppegaard said she is concerned about the lack of legislation requiring the other parent to provide financial or physical support in raising the baby. According to Oppegaard, this is not just bad for the birthing parent — it’s bad for the child too.

“There will be a lot more children who grow up in families that don’t have the money to care for them. It’s not because they don’t care about the kid, it’s just not financially viable. A lot of kids will end up in foster care — it’s not just women that will be affected, it’s the next generation of kids,” Oppegaard said.

As of right now in Minnesota, abortion is protected. According to Kalsnes, this could change in the future. 

“The risk here, the (State) Supreme Court’s makeup could always change. There could be a push to overturn it to do an amendment here as well. There’s always a risk that opponents of abortion will push to make that change the law of the land here in Minnesota. It’s really important that people are educated,” Kalsnes said.

Kalsnes emphasizes the impact the overturning of Roe will have on personal freedoms and bodily autonomy.

“I hope that students see that the opinion the leaked opinion right now is a terrifying violation of the rights of women and people who are pregnant. It is forced pregnancy and it takes away the right to govern our own bodies and the most intimate and personal choices for ourselves,” said Kalsnes, “If this stands, it could implicate a lot of other rights like birth control. There are just so many things that could be affected by this. It’s really important that people take this seriously.”