In 1969, Norma McCorvey, also known as Jane Roe, brought a lawsuit against the district attorney, Henry Wade, on the premise that Texas’s abortion laws were unconstitutional. Soon Roe v. Wade made its way to the Supreme Court, which issued a 7-2 decision holding that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a fundamental “right to privacy” which protects a pregnant woman's right to an abortion. On January 22, 1973,  the United States Supreme Court ruled abortions to be necessary, and a constitutionally protected right in the United States of America.

This decision sparked debate between pro-life and pro-choice activists around the country, raising questions about the government's position and interference in female reproductive fights and individualism. Across the next half a century, these two sides engaged in peaceful and non-peaceful protests, debates, and demonstrations throughout the United States while promoting reproductive rights conversations globally.

Nearly half a century later, on June 24, 2022, the new case of Dobbs v. Jacksons Women’s Health Organizations overturned Roe. Their decision was based on the grounds of abortion not being “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history or tradition,” as stated byJustice Samuel Alito, a conservative majority figure from the case. 

Roe would go down as one of the Supreme Court's most controversial decisions in U.S. history, sparking debates across the country, the world, and even our own community.

Maryland is a historically blue state that has legalized abortion up to the point of fetal viability, the stage of pregnancy when a fetus has developed enough to survive outside the uterus with medical help. A poll by the Pew Research Center indicates that 64% of Maryland adults said abortion should be legal, while 33% claimed it should be illegal in all or most cases. 

For the past few weeks, I have been collecting responses from students in the Bryn Mawr and Gilman communities detailing individual experiences, sentiments, and responses to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. With the number of abortion clinics declining, the country restricting the availability of contraception and abortions, and pro-life and pro-choice activism increasing, I asked the questions: How does the Bryn Mawr community feel about this new decision? How has this impacted our community? 

In the interviews, many students explained how political decisions and rulings changed their perspectives. One Gilman Student from the Class of 2025 explained, “this decision has certainly changed my view on the world a decent amount. I’d say it's made me lose a lot of faith in a large part of humanity and has made me grow even more distant from certain people in my life.” He believes that an already divided world is growing more separated due to political ideologies. With the overturning of Roe, many students expressed a growing feeling of unsafety with both peers and the government. One claimed, “it makes me feel more scared around people.” And another described, “it’s decisions like this that make me wonder who gets to be free, because it certainly seems like some people in the government are only giving freedom to specific people.” While many were previously aware of the right-leaning views of Supreme Court justices and their power to change laws that impact the livelihoods of the American people, to a younger generation that had never lived with the right to abortion not being constitutionally implemented, the world feels odd.

In addition to the community expressing a wide spectrum of complex sentiments, the view they held on the government, particularly the Supreme Court, altered substantially as a result of the ruling. Madelyn Dunstone '25 stated, “It [the overturning of Roe] has definitely made me more concerned about the people in power.” Madelyn is not alone in this concern; the ruling left many other students fearing that Roe was just the beginning to other constitutional rights being overturned. 

Of the 8 total students that agreed to an interview, none identified as pro-life, and those with a pro-life ideology that I asked to speak did not desire to go on record with their opinions. Is this a reflection of the state climate or something that speaks more specifically to the climate at Bryn Mawr? How can we create space for open dialogue around this personal and painful topic?

Students reported feeling safe in their own community, with a deep sense of concern for those not living in blue states. Madelyn Dunstone commented, “I have family in other states where abortion was banned. It scares me that if they need it they are not legally able to get one.” Another student expressed gratitude for their situation sharing, “If I was in that position where I needed an abortion I would luckily be allowed by the community to have that opportunity. It’s awful that people in Texas do not have that type of support and that mental fear and feeling they have to act illegally to gain access to it.”

To many, the immediate sentiments expressed directly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade were extreme; yet now, four months after the Supreme Court's ruling, the topic almost seems forgotten. Nevertheless, the effect of Roe v Wade is apparent even in our own Baltimore community. It has changed the way we think, the way we feel, and the way we view the world around us. So, for now, the debate and discussion will continue.