American University students showed overwhelming support of the June 27 Supreme Court decision overturning a restrictive Texas abortion law.
The 5-3 ruling struck down a Texas bill, known as HB2, which would have effectively forced the closure of nearly 40 health clinics that perform abortions, leaving women seeking services very few options in the Lone Star State.
“It’s a good thing,” Genesis Marte, 19, said of the high court’s decision to protect abortion services. “That’s a woman’s body and a woman’s choice.”
Anisa Santiago, 21, attended Catholic school and says she was raised pro-life. But now, as an American University student, Santiago also takes a pro-choice stance.
“If the government wants to shut down [clinics], they need a better reason,” Santiago said of the Texas law, which would have required health clinics to build special surgical facilities.
Alex Mazzarisi, 22, an American University graduate, agrees with the Supreme Court’s decision. She also felt as if it came with a lot of unneeded attention.
“I was happy,” Mazzarisi said. “There is a lot of restriction, very unnecessarily so.”
In the wake of the decision involving Texas, Wisconsin, Alabama and Mississippi abortion laws are getting more attention, according to the Supreme Court website.
To many, Texas’s law would have made women travel further for services, causing an undue burden.
“I think they should be available, of course, with health insurance and to help keep low-income woman out of poverty,” Mazzarisi said.
Santiago agrees that abortion should be accessible because nobody but the woman having it can understand the experience the procedure brings.
“It should be available pro-choice, nobody knows unless you’re going through it,” Santiago said. “There’s a stigma. And it’s a bad thing.”