At the time, the Supreme Court recognized the inherent right to privacy for women, an urgent issue given that women were dying in emergency rooms across the country from self-induced abortions.But today, women across the nation are disturbed to see a set of politicians doing everything they can to undermine this landmark decision that has stood as a critical safeguard for women's health for four decades.
The best way to reduce the need for abortion is to reduce unintended pregnancy. But in the U.S., politicians are also increasingly putting up roadblocks to access preventive care, including the birth control that helps women avoid unintended pregnancy. In fact, in the past year, the House of Representatives and extreme state legislatures have worked to cut many women off from access to birth control and lifesaving cancer screenings for breast and cervical cancer.
The number one prescription drug for women ages 18-44 years, the average women pays $50 a month for birth control. This is an obvious barrier to access, particularly for low-income women and students. Reproductive rights are a fundamental aspect of women’s economic equality,
When women have access to preventive care --including birth control, breast exams, and pap smears -- it is good for women, good for their families, and good for America.
Last month, women's health advocates said they would sue the US government for allegedly violating the constitutional rights of young teenage girls by denying them over-the-counter access to emergency contraception.
The US secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, stepped in to bar girls under the age of 17 from getting the morning-after pill without a prescription.
In short, a whole class of elected officials currently in office is dead set on turning back the clock nearly half a century. And another band of them is waiting in the wings ─ with their eyes on the White House.
The US secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius, stepped in to bar girls under the age of 17 from getting the morning-after pill without a prescription.
Opposing Roe and essential women's health care isn't just bad policy -- it's bad politics. That's because Americans agree with the protection that Roe provides. Polling consistently reaffirms that a majority of Americans support a woman's right to make her own decisions about pregnancy in consultation with her doctor and her family. Politicians who oppose this firmly held notion are swimming against the tide, putting themselves outside the mainstream.
Pres. Obama on Sunday marked the 39th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion by affirming his backing for the right, for decades one of America's most polarizing issues.
"As we mark the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we must remember that this Supreme Court decision not only protects a woman's health and reproductive freedom, but also affirms a broader principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters, I remain committed to protecting a woman's right to choose and this fundamental constitutional right."We must continue to raise those voices and keep the pressure on. Every day, from now through November, we need to remind politicians that women are watching.
We see what they are doing. We hear what they are saying. And we vote.
