AACC students said this week they would oppose any decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the case that established abortion as a constitutional right.

In an informal poll of 50 students on the Arnold campus, 44 said they are against overturning the landmark abortion rights case, while six said they would support it. 

All those who said they would oppose overturning the law said they are pro-choice, while all six who said they would support it are pro-life.

Second-year business management student Rachel Lantrip said overturning the 1973 law legalizing abortion feels like the U.S. is “going backwards in time.”

The news organization Politico reported on May 2 that a draft memo leaked from the Supreme Court showed five of the nine justices had voted to overturn the law and allow states to decide for themselves whether to ban abortions or keep them legal. The court is expected to make the decision official this summer.

An estimated 23 states reportedly are prepared to restrict abortions if the justices turn the decision over to them.

Most students in the poll said they hope that doesn’t happen.

“A woman should have the right to her body,” second-year English student Marissa Falcone said.

Second-year transfer studies student Reagan Keys, who said he is “strongly against” a change in the law, agreed.

“Your body, your choice, and I feel that with more than just abortion,” Keys said. “But in this case, abortion should just, I feel, be legal. … [Nobody can] tell [women] what to do with their bodies.”

He said banning legal abortions won’t stop women from seeking illegal procedures.

“When you think about it, you’re not banning abortion,” he said. “When you ban abortion, you’re banning legal abortion … but you still have street abortions. You still have these, like, black market kind of stuff that will still occur. 

Lantrip agreed, saying turning the decision about whether to allow abortions over to the states will not prevent abortions–just safe ones.

“It’s just going to make it illegal and people are going to go and do it behind the government’s back like they used to, and that’s really dangerous,” Lantrip said. “It’s horrible.”

“I personally just believe that every woman should have the right to decide what happens to their body,” first-year psychology student Anastasia Pevolitz said. “It shouldn’t be anyone else’s decision.”

Some students, however, said they support the position that the justices took in the leaked memo.

First-year dual enrollment student Hank Mann, described Roe v. Wade as “unconstitutional.”

Mann said he agrees with overturning the case. However, he said, it will “have absolutely zero effect on Maryland” because the state is traditionally liberal.

Other students said they are on the fence about whether abortion should be legal.

First-year nursing prep student Estelary Ortiz described herself as “in between” on the issue, saying she is anti-abortion but still believes it should be legal.

“I personally would not abort a child,” Ortiz said, “but I do understand other people’s perspectives.”