The Domino Effects of New Anti-abortion Laws
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Question of the Week
Should Americans have a right to privacy and/or bodily autonomy? If so, what should those rights encompass and exclude? Abortion? Carrying a pistol? Selling a kidney? Taking heroin? Keeping a Swiss bank account? Assembling explosive devices in your house? How would you word a constitutional amendment, knowing it would pass and constrain lawmakers for decades?
Send responses to conor@theatlantic.com or simply reply to this email.
Conversations of Note
Brooke Oberwetter was 31 when she unexpectedly got pregnant. She talked over all of her options, including abortion, with her doctor, her partner, her family, and her close friends. Then she decided to continue the pregnancy. At 10 weeks, she went for a sonogram. Inexplicably, there was no heartbeat. To clear the pregnancy she required a dilation-and-curettage procedure. In an incisive Medium essay reacting to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, she imagines what it would be like to go through all of that in her hometown of Dallas, Texas, today—and to do so as a sarcastic sort who responds to grief and trauma by making inappropriate jokes.
She begins by reviewing the facts of her case:
- I was taking hormonal birth control, clearly showing that I was not interested in having a baby.
- I stated to my doctor, my partner, and numerous friends that I was considering an abortion.
- My Google search history indicated that I had looked up how much time I had to make a decision regarding