As a teenage girl, my worries should be things like that big test in math next Friday and what I’m gonna do for college. But the reality is I am always worried about the government trying to control my body and my right to safe abortion. Roe v. Wade has been around for my whole lifetime. Access to safe and legal abortions has statistically decreased unsafe abortions. So, in light of recent legislative efforts to ban abortion, I think it is more important than ever to sustain Roe v. Wade nationally.

If Roe v. Wade is overturned it will not end abortions, it will end safe abortions. Unsafe abortions can lead to permanent damage or even death if not done by a professional. Abortions are a last-choice solution, not a usual form of birth control. So why does the republican government not give free birth control if they are so against abortions? The answer is control. 

When born into poverty, money is tight. Life is stressful and the added lack of money can only add to that. Sex work is also very common among people who need the extra money. They cannot practice abstinence because the lack thereof is what is putting food on the table. Lack of money for food and an even bigger lack of money for forms of birth control commonly leads to pregnancy. A lack of education and conversation about forms of birth control also leads to an increase in unwanted pregnancies. This is shown by a 2016 study that reported over 75% of women who get abortions live under the poverty line. Further showing that the overturning of Roe V Wade would disproportionately affect impoverished populations.

Finally, even if a woman is old enough to get pregnant does not mean she is emotionally or physically ready to bear children. The expectation of a young girl to bear children simply because she has a period does not mean she will get through childbirth. Nor does it entail that she is emotionally ready to have a child when she IS a child. The average girl gets her period at age 12  and does not have a fully developed brain until the age of 25.