I was a teenager in 1973 when Roe v. Wade was decided by the Supreme Court. The 70’s was a time when women gained so many basic rights –

• The right to own a home
• The right to have a credit card
• The right to work while pregnant

Just to name a few.

I was optimistic about my future as an independent, autonomous woman. I was in control of my life and destiny. Motherhood was my choice, not my life’s purpose.

I’ve never been pregnant, so I never had to make the difficult decision to end a pregnancy. But I was always glad that I had that choice. When I was twenty, a close friend confided in me that she needed an abortion and asked for my help.  Motherhood at that time would have changed the rest of her life. I was completely supportive of her choice. I drove her to the back door of the abortion clinic so she wouldn’t have to run the gauntlet of protestors at the front entrance. I was there for emotional support in the days before and after the procedure. My friend was able to graduate college, start her career, then get married and have children on her terms, when she was ready. Intentional motherhood. Isn’t that what all children should have? A mother who is ready for the tremendous responsibility of raising children.

I felt gut-punched on June 24, 2022. That was the date that the U.S. Supreme court handed down the Dobbs decision, repealing women’s right to abortion as guaranteed by Roe v Wade.

At 66, I’m well beyond my child-bearing years and won’t ever personally need an abortion. I have no daughters or granddaughters. However, I do care about women, children, and families. I care deeply about equal rights for women under the Constitution.

The Dobbs decision took away my right as a woman to bodily autonomy. It prioritizes my function as a woman to be an incubator for a collection of cells. My own life and health are not as important.

Bernie Moreno, a politician currently running for the U.S. Senate in my state of Ohio, thinks it’s crazy for abortion to be an issue for women over 50 because he believes doesn’t affect them. It does affect me. It represents my place as a woman in our society. It means that as a woman, I don’t have equal rights under the law. It means that women don’t have equal access to healthcare.

The pro-life side of the abortion issue claims that it’s about protecting life.  Yet, there are no other laws that require the use of any person’s body to save another life. No man or woman can be required by law to donate blood or organs to save another life. In fact, even organs from a corpse can not be used to save another life, unless the deceased gave permission prior to death. Yet a woman is compelled to donate her uterus for 9 months to allow cells to grow, at risk to her own life. A woman is compelled to give birth and become a mother, in spite of any negative circumstances, consequences, and outcomes.

This isn’t about some superficial rule like “no shirt, no shoes, no service” or wearing a seatbelt while driving or putting on a mask during a pandemic. There is no comparison.

In November 2023, voters in my state of Ohio approved a reproductive freedom amendment to our state’s constitution, guaranteeing every woman’s right to choose, by a 57% to 43% vote – not even close in a red state. According to nationwide polls, the majority of people understand that women have an equal right to bodily autonomy. In Ohio, women are protected for now. The right to reproductive freedom, healthcare, and bodily autonomy needs to be a federal mandate, not left up to each state. These are fundamental human rights that must be guaranteed to all.

So until the protections of Roe v Wade are restored to women in the U.S., I will be enraged. I will be a single-issue voter. I will support and personally help women to have an abortion or need an abortion to protect their own health.

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