US Supreme Court
A monumental Supreme Court decision was released on Friday, June 24. We at Unplanned Good sincerely hope that this decision leads more women facing unplanned pregnancy to consider placing their babies for adoption. Further, there's a lot of conjecture about what this means. And a LOT of misconceptions about what happens next. Even good friends of mine have misunderstood it. In an effort to clarify, I'd like to share some facts about this topic:
Roe made abortion legal in all 50 States.
As of 1973, States were no longer able to set their own laws on abortion. Since then, if the people of a given State wanted to ban abortion, they couldn't.In 1973, the Supreme Court stretched the 14th amendment and the 'right to privacy' to federalize abortion policy.
But the Court's job is upholding the Constitution, not making laws, so Roe was unconstitutional from the start.Overturning Roe does NOT ban abortion in this country.
It returns the decision-making power to the States, where the Constitution indicates it belongs: any issue not specifically, expressly assigned to the federal gov't belongs to the States.
Most likely, very little will change in pro-abortion States.Each State will now set its own abortion policy.
Roughly half of our 50 States do want to limit or ban abortion, and now they can. Other States will become "abortion sanctuaries" where women will travel to obtain their abortions.
To dive into the Supreme Court’s ruling on this, you can read the full statement here.
The Adoption Conversation
Surely this decision will spark more conversation about options for women facing unplanned pregnancy. This is now a fresh topic for discussion, giving us an opportunity to update our thinking and our talking points, and to make the case for adoption.
We can only do that if and when we continue to speak the truth with love and compassion. Let’s use this opportunity to unite in spreading the word about adoption, not to allow a deepened divide between pro-choice and pro-life.
We do hope that you will join us in advocating for adoption. Remember, any young woman is more likely to consider it when an adult she admires suggests it.