Topic Presentation
Following the 1973 landmark decision by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the Roe v. Wade case, the U.S. legalized abortion in the United States. However, based on the subsequent companion decisions, different states might restrict abortion to varying degrees. As of 2019, the CDC revealed 11.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 44 (CDC). In the most recent surveys conducted on the topic, while 37 percent of Americans say abortion should be illegal all or most of the time, 61 percent say it should be legal (Diamant and Mohamed). Abortion rates have been rising in the country, especially during the late 2010s, and the government has to reconsider its stand on the issue.
Audience Description
Numerous federal governments have passed legislation designed to completely block access or undermine abortion care, which has been done since the 1973 Supreme Court decision. However, in 2021, two significant reasons have been attached to the legislative efforts by the federal government. First, according to the Guttmacher Institute, the U.S. has seen the highest number of abortion restrictions in a single year, and second, the judicial and constitutional landscape is particularly tenuous (Nash and Naide).
Rationale for Selecting the Audience
Federal governments were considered the appropriate audience since they have a significant role in passing legislation that either protects or expands abortion rights. The federal government is an influential stakeholder with the power to restrict or ban state legislatures from highlighting abortion rights. Since they act as indirect stakeholders, federal governments are mainly concerned about abortion in the U.S. based on health care, reproductive autonomy, and economic justice, among others. Further, the audience can challenge previous governing laws, which might cause specific abortion-restrictive statutes to take effect. With this, this audience is critical since it stands to either enforce or weaken the looming threat linked to historically unconstitutional statutes that might legislate and litigate abortions.
Works Cited
CDC. “Abortion Surveillance – United States, 2019.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2021. Web.
Diamant, Jeff, and Besheer Mohamed. “What the Data Says about Abortion in the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center. 2022. Web.
Nash, Elizabeth, and Sophia Naide. “State Policy Trends at Midyear 2021: Already the Worst Legislative Year Ever for U.S. Abortion Rights.” Guttmacher Institute. 2022. Web.