Roe v Wade: Impact on women at workplace!

With the Roe overturned, we can see that the world is divided into two sections. Pro-life or Pro-choice. I think the debate should be expanded beyond the decision to have or not to have a child. Also, understand that choice here is not binary. 

I believe in equality and choice. I love and embrace my femininity and sexuality. I think motherhood is a blessing, and I personally would enjoy being a mother sometime in the future. But at the same time, I do not believe that every woman is expected to be the primary caretaker. I do not think that every woman “must” enjoy or experience motherhood.

If you choose to become a mother and prioritize motherhood over other areas of your life, that is your choice. You should embrace it and be proud of your choice. But this is true for a woman who chooses her education or career over family. This should be true for a woman who decided to balance her career and family life. This should be true for one who chooses to have a surrogate baby. This should be true for someone who decides to adopt a baby. 

Every woman has the right to decide what to do with their body irrespective of their age, sexual orientation, and marital status. 

It is not a black and white choice. One should not be forced to have an opinion. The decision is subjective to one’s values, autonomy, stage of life, and financial and health situations. One should use their judgment and decide based on their life choices. Abortion at week 4 and week 36 is not the same. One should use their consciousness when you take a decision.

Every child deserves to be born in a healthy, stable house. If the parents are not ready to have a child, then probably the best choice would be not to have them. It would be the best decision for the mother and the child. No child deserves to have a traumatic childhood where they constantly feel unwanted. No parent deserves to raise a child in an unhealthy situation and feel guilty. 

Why is the judgment a backlash against women at workplace? 

The right to abortion helped women to choose and live their life. The choice helped women to bring certainty in life. It enabled them to plan their life and career and build a better future for themselves and their future family. 

Forcing a woman to give birth is just wrong from a physiological and psychological point of view. The immediate impact of the judgment would be experienced in families of low socioeconomic status. Continued pregnancy and childbirth have serious health risks. It will make it difficult to escape poverty. For younger women, this might prevent them from getting an education and building a free life for themselves. A woman’s life plan might be affected inversely. Women might be forced to stay with an abusive partner. Women might be forced to give up their dreams of building a career and have a “job” to feed the newborn baby. 

Miscarriages and risky pregnancies might become a subject of suspicion. Women can also get arrested for protecting their own life. 

One can argue that the state has the right to make changes. One might even feel that a woman’s life in liberal states might not get affected. But this change will have a ripple effect and affect every woman who wants a free and independent life. 

Let us talk about representation. One of the immediate effects of forcing someone to have children is the denial of education. It will result in a lower representation of women in colleges. This will directly result in a lesser number of women qualified for jobs that require higher education. This will widen the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is at 0.82 cents in 2022. Another interesting fact to note here is that the controlled gender pay gap is 0.99 cents. This tells us that similarly qualified and experienced men and women earn almost the same. So one of the solutions for reducing the overall gender pay gap is to give equal opportunity to men and women. Equal opportunities are fundamentally denied in this situation. 

I am an immigrant working in the tech industry in silicon valley. I consider myself a privileged person. My company has a good representation of men and women. There are six months of maternity leave and four months of paternity leave. The company also pays for egg freezing as a perk. I am thankful for these benefits. But these perks and support were introduced in the company because of the representation of women in leadership positions. They raised their voices for women in tech. I don’t think the tech industry has solved all the problems. The representation is still low; there are few “female” leaders. Many female employees still face discrimination, especially after a certain age. But changes are happening and which is a positive sign. Many tech companies are offering travel expenses for abortions. I believe this is because of women's continued representation and success in these tech giants.  

To summarize. Representation is the first step. It is denied in every aspect of their life. It starts with not getting an opportunity to decide what they can do with their body. It continues with women not getting a chance to get an education. This results in a lower representation of women in workplaces. Hence, equal rights are denied in every aspect of their lives!

You might be sitting in California or any other part of the world, thinking this might not affect you. Directly maybe yes. But the ripple effect on society is natural, and this will hit you one day. 

These are my thoughts, and you are welcome to disagree respectfully!