Planned Parenthood

Everybody’s talking about the Supreme Court these days. That’s because 1 of 9 Supreme Court justices, Justice Anthony Kennedy, just announced that he’s retiring. This means that Donald Trump will be nominating someone to replace him. Here’s why this could have a huge impact on abortion rights, LGBTQ rights, access to birth control, affordable health care, and a lot of other things.

What’s the Supreme Court and why should I care about it?

The Supreme Court of the United States (aka SCOTUS) is the final stop for decisions about laws nationwide, including the U.S. Constitution. Once the Supreme Court issues a ruling about a particular topic, it’s very difficult to change that law — unless enough Supreme Court justices agree to overturn it.

Many things we take for granted as being “the law of the land” are the result of Supreme Court battles. Things like birth control, abortion, gay marriage, and even oral and anal sex between consenting adults were once illegal in many states until the Supreme Court stepped in.

Being a Supreme Court justice is a once-in-a-lifetime job … literally. Once someone is appointed to the Supreme Court, they have the job until they die or decide to retire. So now that Justice Kennedy is retiring, there’s an open seat — and Donald Trump gets to fill it. This means that whoever Trump appoints will be influencing the most important laws in the country for generations to come.

Donald Trump already appointed one Supreme Court judge — Neil Gorsuch, who has a history of ruling against reproductive rights, including access to birth control. And now Trump has promised he’ll only nominate people who will overturn Roe v. Wade and end legal abortion in America to replace Justice Kennedy.

What’s Roe v. Wade?

Roe v. Wade is the 1973 Supreme Court case that recognized that the Constitution protects your right to get an abortion. Before Roe, it was illegal to have an abortion in most states. In the few states where it was legal, it was usually only in specific cases, like rape or to save the life of the pregnant person.

But just because abortion was illegal didn’t mean people didn’t still get abortions — it just meant millions of people were forced to find illegal ways to end their pregnancies, which wasn’t always safe. The reality is, millions of abortions still happened, they were just much more dangerous. In 1965, illegal abortions made up one-sixth of all pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths.

Because Roe has been around for over 40 years, many Americans don’t have any idea what it’s like when safe and legal abortion isn’t the law of the land.

But today, abortion is a SUPER safe and common medical procedure. In fact, it’s one of the safest medical procedures in the United States now that it’s legal — with a safety record of more than 99%.

If Roe v. Wade were overturned, whether abortion is legal or not will be decided state by state. At least 20 states are poised to immediately seek to ban abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned. If Trump has his way, we’ll get a Supreme Court justice that will make this the new reality for millions of Americans. And it’s going to hurt some of the most marginalized communities — like people in rural areas and women of color — the most.