Availability of Abortions Has SeeSawed Since Way Back

I had not realized how many times abortions have been banned and then made available again. It leads me to believe that if the Supreme Court overturns Roe that ruling itself will be overturned one day.

Reviewing the brief history, it seems like what we are experiencing is the same scenario that has happened before. First some intense people make the case it is bad or sinful. Then stories of how terrible it turns out to be for women.  The latter builds support for abortions. This back and forth pushes the laws one way for a while and back again.

One thing that has not changed much are the number of abortions. Only recently with the improvement of birth control and medicine based abortions have the estimated numbers declined.

The current situation in the U.S. is more complicated than any before. I am going to re read the book, Her Body, Our Lives, by Michelle Oberman. She spent a year or two interviewing people in several countries and conservative states in the U.S. to find what happened when abortion was restricted or "outlawed." There are countries in Central and South America where it is not legal.

Yet in those countries the number of abortions has not fallen. When they are illegal or restricted poor and rural women have much less access than wealthier and urban women. That is how it was in the U.S. before Roe. I know women who had abortions before Roe. One flew to New York. Abortions continued. We need to remember lots of alcohol was consumed during prohibition.

Now medicines can be taken to trigger abortions. If Roe is overturned and some states make it illegal, one can only imagine how much of this medicine will cross state lines. The U.S. had a tough time keeping whiskey from coming across the border from Canada. Pills are easier to sneak across borders than whiskey.

There are billions of dollars in the U.S. ready to make abortions available, legally or not.