The topic of abortion has been a heavily debated topic for years, people either fall in the side of pro-life [people against abortion] and pro-choice [people who support abortion]. This week, Missouri changed laws governing abortions.

“Women should be able to choose what they want to do,” said sophomore Tavaona Stafford. “If women want to have an abortion then they should be able to do that,”

On Wednesday, May 15, the Missouri Senate argued ona pro-life bill, aka. the Heartbeat Bill, that will ultimately reverse the decisions made by Congress thanks to the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, the case which allowed women’s fundamental ‘right to privacy’ and protected women’s liberties to choose on whether or not they should get an abortion.

“With or without a law, abortions will still happen, abortions should be safe for all women to receive,” said junior Shawain Saeed.

On Thursday, May 16, Missouri officially made it illegal for women to receive an abortion after eight weeks, with an exception only on cases of medical emergencies. However, there are no exceptions to the cases of women who were a victim of rape or incest.

“So many mad, terrible things can happen to people, I can only imagine the pain that one must feel to carry the baby of a rapist to term, even against your will,” said sophomore Katie Hulme. “This bill is limiting what women can do with their own bodies and it makes me angry that women are being oppressed even after all the years that they have fought for their rights.”

The importance of Roe v. Wade wasn’t the fact that the case decision allowed abortions to become a legal right in the United States. Its significance comes from the fact that it prevented women from receiving unsafe and often fatal ‘back alley’ abortions that were illegal in the United States at the time. Now, abortions are one of the safest medical procedures in the United States.

“With Roe v. Wade, considering the fact that states and governors are overturning it in their own states, there could be a chance of it getting overturned in a federal level,” said Hulme. “If it happens, then we’re only going to go back to a time of dangerous abortion procedures.”