From Title IX wins to abortion rights losses, women in America face a long road to freedom

About 11 a.m. last Friday, I turned on the TV to watch the second round of the Travelers Championship – my husband, Peter, is playing in his eighth season on the PGA Tour  – but as I was scrolling to find the right feed, I saw the news: Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion, was gone. Poof.

By now, you’ve probably seen images of the gatherings that resulted outside the Supreme Court – protesters chanting in cathartic indignation on one side, celebrants hugging in righteous joy on the other. The contrast of emotions was striking, which is why I want to ask the court: Couldn’t you have waited?

The day before – literally less than 24 hours before the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling was delivered – we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the law that guarantees women the same opportunity to education as their male counterparts. Without it, I never would have attended college or competed on the University of Missouri gymnastics team.

Title IX gave me the opportunity to control my own future, and that on one day, we’re commemorating a half-century of fairness and progress only to see a nearly 50-year precedent guaranteeing the right to bodily autonomy vanish on the next is simply too much. Yet, what results from the cruel timing of these events is a jarring reality for millions of Americans: a new and alarming level of worry.

More: The Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade completes the GOP's three-step nanny-state plan

More: States will now decide abortion laws. Here's why that could be a good thing.

Facing a pregnancy amid uncertainty

I worry that my friends going through in vitro fertilization will lose access to the science and medical care needed to expand their families. I worry that the 10-20% of women who experience a miscarriage will be questioned like suspects in a criminal proceeding when the embryos inside their bodies are no longer viable. I worry that disparities in maternal health across racial and socioeconomic lines will expand and deepen.

I worry that access to contraception and the physical and emotional relief it provides will soon disappear. I worry that women heading to college this fall – the millions of them whom Title IX godmother Patsy Mink fought so hard to defend – will be forced to carry and deliver children conceived during the worst and most unimaginably difficult day of their lives: the day they’re sexually assaulted.

Mick Mulvaney: 'Things could get very dark for the former president,' writes ex-Trump aide

I worry that people who simply don’t want to be pregnant will face impossible scenarios for making decisions about their own bodies.

I also worry about myself. Why? Because I’m pregnant, too.

In December, Peter and I will welcome a second child to our family. To be clear, this pregnancy was planned and is deeply wanted. My due date can’t come soon enough.

But what happens if something goes wrong between now and then? What happens if I’m one of the unlucky ones who gets the terrible news of no fetal heartbeat at my next appointment? Will I have access to the procedure needed to prevent sepsis? What happens if I’m in duress during delivery and the climate surrounding doctors and medical professionals is so chilling that they’re not sure they could make the legal case for intervening and saving my life?

What would my husband and 2-year-old son do without me? What will the families of the hundreds and hundreds of women who will most certainly die during childbirth this year do without them? With Roe overturned, I’m not sure anyone has clear or satisfactory answers to these questions.

More: I mourn the future of women and unwanted babies, who will be ignored by those who 'saved' them

Hope from our history, reflecting on Title IX

What I do know is that over the past five decades, Title IX has provided millions of women access to education. With that education, we’ve learned something that will come in handy in the coming years: how to fight for our humanity.

A glaring but often overlooked outcome of Title IX is that white women like me have fared far better than Black women in terms of opportunities as athletes, coaches and athletic administrators. In our now post-Roe world, recognizing that the SCOTUS decision will undoubtedly have a similar effect – that low-income women of color and those with the least access to resources will endure a larger share of the ruling’s limitations – is a vital and necessary starting point for all of us.

Alicia H. Malnati, Ph.D., is a scholar, storyteller and artist who examines the science of achievement and well-being. You can find her work on AliciaHMalnati.com and @AliciaHMalnati on social media.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Title IX wins one day, abortion rights lose the next