Roe v. Wade looks to be on the verge of being overturned by the United States Supreme Court. Michele Goodwin, writer of Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, describes how the United States has traditionally put Black and Brown women at risk and denied them access to crucial health treatments.

New abortion regulations, she warns, would further criminalise maternal health and promote medical personnel to break their patients’ privacy and report self-administered abortions to law police.

Jane Crow Law

In 1947, Pauli Murray invented the term Jane Crow to indicate that discrimination varied only in name from racial prejudice. Jane Crow obstructed Black women’s full and effective participation, including their problems in the public domain (lower pay and inappropriate touching) and domestic disputes (with regard to female roles as spouses and mothers, as well as obedience to male authority).

Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade (1973) is a defining moment in the history of the United States Supreme Court. The ruling established that a woman has the right to abortion, that is secured by the United States Constitution. The decision went against several of the country’s abortion restrictions at the time.

The decision prompted several concerns, including if abortion should be permitted and who should have the authority to decide. Without a doubt, many individuals thought that the judgement was an attack on their social, religious, and cultural beliefs.

The New Jane Crow

These laws are not reasonable, they are pretty nonsensical, and they are also punishing and extremely disproportionate. They make no logic, yet they are extremely vicious. And they are designed to create dread. And their impact goes much beyond anything we can comprehend or even conceive. That’s also what regulating the Womb is all about.

There are areas where women and girls may be themselves without fear of harassment. But there are areas like California, where a prosecutor sought to charge a woman with murder in the instance of her stillbirth a few years ago. We need to be conscious of what we want for women and girls. If is it “Roe v. Wade,” we are probably safe for now. But if our choice is “The New Jane Crow,” then we must ask ourselves whether we are doing the right thing or not.