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Hello #ChangeMakers!
Like many of you, I relied on contraceptive care from Planned Parenthood to help me plan my family. I was very young and already raising a child on my own. I had finally made my way to college at a community college near my home, and I wasn’t going to let an unplanned pregnancy derail me. I credit that healthcare with the fact that I was able to lift myself up and out of poverty. Countless women could tell a story about why contraceptive care was important to them. But today, that care is threatened as it never has been.
We are already hearing that anti-abortion members of congress are aiming to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood early next year – money that is used for family planning and other health care services like cancer screens.
Abortion rights are under attack as well. Here in my home state of Texas, a rule recently passed requiring that fetal remains from miscarriages or elective abortions be either buried or cremated. This isn’t just an attempt to add an undue burden to women’s ability to seek constitutionally guaranteed abortion care, it’s also an attempt to add shame.
In Ohio, the legislature just passed a law that will prohibit women from having an abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is usually about six weeks. There is no rape or incest exception. Governor Kasich has 10 days from the date of the law’s passage to either sign or veto the bill. If you live in Ohio, one of our recommended “DOs” below is to call Governor Kasich’s office and tell him why you strongly oppose this.
And, at the federal level, the selection of Tom Price, six term Republican congressman from Georgia, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services signals a worrisome fate for reproductive rights. Price has voted against allowing any federal funding to go toward abortion for any reason, wants to cut funding for stem cell research, and has sponsored measures to defund family planning assistance to groups like Planned Parenthood.
As women, we understand that our reproductive autonomy is intricately intertwined with our economic destinies. Our ability to live full, promising lives depends on the ability to keep lawmakers from making healthcare decisions for us that will have long-term impact on our lives.
Our work is ahead of us, #ChangeMakers. So lace up your sneakers, and let’s get to it.
xo,
- Wendy
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