05/12/2022
*EDIT: A portion of the statement was accidentally cut from the original post. The added portion includes the views of the American Psychological Association on this issue.
An opinion draft written by US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was leaked last week indicating the Court is likely to overturn Roe vs. Wade in the near future. This would return the issue of abortion to the individual states, ending an individual’s Constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy.
The students of the MSU Graduate Psychology Department Association would condemn, in the strongest possible terms, a decision by the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade, and It is not lost on us that Mississippi is at the center of the Court’s review. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case challenging Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban sometime this summer.
We agree with the statement issued by the American Psychological Association (APA) on May 3, 2022 which asserts that denying abortion care is likely to result in negative mental health outcomes, including increased anxiety, depression, and stress, and decreased life satisfaction, and that abortion rights are particularly important for individuals who are or have been involved in abusive relationships. We also agree with the APA’s opinion that the decision to have a child is often linked to socioeconomic status, and that restricting abortion rights will have the greatest negative impact on those living in poverty, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people who live in rural areas with little access to healthcare. Approximately 20% of the population of our state lives in poverty, and any decision to restrict abortion care—in a state where access is already extremely limited—will have disastrous consequences for individuals and families across Mississippi.