Written by Luna Moulton

Disclaimer: As a journalist, it is my privilege and duty to inform the public to the fullest extent of my knowledge and ability. Sadly, this means that in an article like this, some topics I am informing about are all too real for some of our readers. While I have tried to handle these subjects with care, I can make no guarantees that their discussion will not cause distress. Please use discretion when reading this article, and remember that help is available if you have suffered trauma or face discrimination or harassment. You are not alone. The following subjects are discussed in this article: sexual assault, incest, transphobia and physical assault.

The past year has been host to several incidents, both local and abroad, that pertain to civil rights, in particular those of women. The United States and Iran have had the most obvious incidents- namely, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and the murder of Mahsa Amini. The former led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the latter has led to protests throughout Iran.

The pretext for Dobbs began in earnest in 2016, when Justice Antonin Scalia passed. He himself was of the opinion that a woman’s right to abort her unborn child was not protected by the Constitution, and that the Supreme Court should overturn Roe. However, he was viewed as more rational and affable than anything else. His replacement, Neil Gorsuch, was nominated by then-President Donald Trump in 2017. The next year brought the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, and his replacement with Brett Kavanaugh by Donald Trump that same year. Kennedy and Kavanaugh had differing views on constitutional protections of abortion, with Kennedy arguing that such protections existed and Kavanaugh denying it.

In 2018, the state of Mississippi passed the Gestational Age Act, which banned abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, save for the event of medical emergency or abnormality. Governor Phil Bryant announced his vendetta against abortion in 2014 when addressing the state. In 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg- who consistently fought for women’s rights- passed, and her replacement, Amy Coney Barrett, was nominated by Trump. Barrett, like Kavanaugh, disagreed with her predecessor on whether abortion was constitutionally protected. This turned the majority opinion of the court in opposition to the constitutionality of abortion protections.

After the Gestational Age Act was passed by Gov. Bryant of Mississippi, Jackson Women’s Health Organization sued Thomas Dobbs and Kenneth Cleveland (an officer with the State Dept. of Health and the executive director of the State Board of Medical Licensure) respectively, to challenge the constitutionality of the new law. The local District Court and the Fifth Circuit Court both ruled that the law was not constitutional; however, after an appeal, the case was brought before the Supreme Court. In May of last year, Politico leaked a draft of the majority opinion which favored Dobbs. On June 24, the Supreme Court officially ruled in favor of Dobbs and overturned Roe.

In the months following, several other states enacted bans on abortion. Ohio made abortion illegal without exceptions for rape, incest, viability or medical emergency, which has led to gynecologists having to tell their patients they had less than a year to live because of the law. During this year’s midterm elections, abortion was one of the main issues. Candidates endorsed by the former President have largely been defeated by more moderate Republicans and Democrats. Protests in response to the ruling are ongoing. Abroad, many European leaders have condemned the ruling, regardless of partisan leaning. 

Looking forward, it is likely that the Supreme Court will attack constitutional protections for same-sex and interracial marriage and contraception, while Congress and the White House work to codify said protections, as well as those that had existed for abortion. For example, on Dec. 13, 2022, President Biden signed a bill requiring individual states to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial marriages, even if access to said marriages is reconsidered by the courts and the state legislatures.

While the Roberts Court has removed protections for legal abortion access, India, France, Mexico and Israel have taken measures to provide more protections to their citizens. The Supreme Court of India ruled in September that all women have an equal right, regardless of marital status, to a safe abortion at any point up to 24 weeks into pregnancy, and that medical practitioners may not take extralegal measures to prevent one. It has also ruled that the choice to seek an abortion is to be made solely by the woman requiring one, and that pregnancies resulting from marital rape may be terminated within the same period. The gestation period in which French women are able to receive an abortion was extended to 14 weeks in February. Guerrero legalized abortion by request up to 12 weeks on May 17, following Sinaloa’s legalization of the same two months earlier. Israel eventually removed soft barriers to abortion access by making requests available online and by removing queries about birth control usage.

In 2005, Iran instituted the Guidance Patrol, who act as religious police in the nation. They particularly harass women who do not comply with hijab requirements. On Iranian Mother’s Day in 2013, women were rewarded by the Patrol for wearing hijab. However, in a period from 2014 to 2016, 288,000 women had reportedly been arrested for charges relating to dress code. In addition, the Patrol has harassed transgender women for not conforming to gender norms. Ali Khamenei, current Supreme Leader of Iran, stated that women who do not comply with hijab requirements should be made to feel unsafe.

Mahsa Amini was a Kurdish-Iranian woman born in late September of 1999 to a government employee and a housewife. She had aspirations of being a lawyer and was very healthy until her death. On Sept. 13, 2022, Amini went to Tehran to visit her brother, but was arrested by the Guidance Patrol for improper dress. The government later stated she was arrested for wearing tight pants and failing to wear hijab. Her brother was informed, hours later, that she had suffered a heart attack and a seizure and was taken to Kasra Hospital. She was in a coma for two days before passing on Sept. 16.

According to her co-detainees, Amini was insulted and tortured while in custody. She was already brain-dead by the time she was admitted to Kasra Hospital, though the tweet reporting this information was taken down. Her father reported to the BBC that he was not allowed to see Mahsa in the hospital. On Oct. 13, 2022, the head of Iran’s Medical Council was accused by a large number of his subordinates of assisting in a cover-up regarding the cause of Amini’s death.

Hours after Amini’s death was reported, protests flared up once again. It was stated that the ongoing protests are the most significant since 1979. Sept. 17, 2022, saw demonstrations outside of Kasra Hospital. Mahsa’s family was forced to hold an unceremonious funeral to avoid an escalation in unrest, and they have complained about receiving death threats to prevent them from attending any protests. The FIFA World Cup last year has served as a backdrop to international support for the protesters. Many European and American figures have condemned the murder and pledged support for protesters. 

It is currently unknown what changes may result from the ongoing protests. There are a multitude of possibilities. The Iranian government may do as it always has, suppressing protests any way it can. Perhaps it will even enforce stricter mandates, or perhaps, conversely, the Arab Spring has finally reached Iran after a long decade. We shall see.