During his one-term presidency, Donald Trump made it clear that he would do everything in his power to get rid of Roe v. Wade. A year and a half after being voted out of office, he finally got his wish. On Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade which officially ends the women’s guaranteed ability to obtain the procedure after 50 years.
This decision is an infuriating result of Trump shamelessly padding the Supreme Court with conservatives to gain control of women’s bodies—and he’s currently celebrating this outcome. In an interview after it was announced on Friday, he told Fox News:
“This is following the Constitution, and giving rights back when they should have been given long ago. I think, in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody. This brings everything back to the states where it has always belonged.”
During a 2016 debate against Hillary Clinton, he said that he planned on recruiting pro-life justices to the Supreme Court. When he was elected as president that year, Trump wasted no time in doing so. He wound up appointing: Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018 and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020.
By the time he left office, the courts were 6-3 conservative majority—and all three of his picks overturned Roe. Thirteen states have trigger laws, which means abortion there will become illegal in 30 days. In addition, nearly twenty-six states are likely to ban abortion now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned.
Because of the ruling, doctors may face criminal repercussions for saving a pregnant person’s life if it means terminating the pregnancy. But in the meantime, countless women will suffer. Black women will be hit disproportionately since we are three times more likely to die during childbirth.
States will be the final decision makers when it comes to our bodies yet offer us no resources or social infrastructure to raise these children they are desperate for us to have. Trump worked feverishly to launch a war on women’s reproductive rights by defunding Planned Parenthood, cutting aide to teen pregnancy prevention programs and allowing employers to choose not to cover birth control in their health insurance plans.
With Roe v. Wade being abolished, the last step in his plan is complete—he is victorious for now. Hopefully, this decision can and will be overturned.