SSN Commentary

With Abortion Heading Back to the Supreme Court, Is It Time To Retire the ‘My Body, My Choice’ Slogan?

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University of Cincinnati-Main Campus

Originally published as "With Abortion Heading Back to the Supreme Court, Is It Time To Retire the ‘My Body, My Choice’ Slogan?" The Conversation, August 4, 2021.

One of the blockbuster cases the U.S. Supreme Court will hear in its upcoming session is a challenge to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban.

Mississippi made clear that it aims to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which in 1973 established a constitutionally protected right to abortion before fetal viability – when a fetus has developed to a point where it can exist outside the womb. In the context of a Supreme Court reshaped by anti-abortion interests, the case could set a new precedent, alarming abortion rights activists, some of whom will likely be outside the Supreme Court this fall holding signs emblazoned with “my body, my choice” – a go-to slogan for many in the movement.