The Ballot vs. Reproductive Rights
Welcome to the USA. Judy Polstra
This coming November marks one of the most divisive and essential elections in recent history. Not only are we voting on who will lead the charge for the next four years, but we are voting to protect women’s access to health care that includes abortion and reproductive rights. Under this charged landscape, Americans will select an administration that will either continue the Dobb’s decision and reduce access to emergency abortion care, amongst several other detrimental restrictions or choose leaders who support a woman’s right to make imperative decisions about her health while mandating no-cost coverage for over-the-counter birth control. The Dobb’s ruling, a 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and reversed a 50-year-old law, bans abortion at the state level, including pregnancies as a result of rape or incest.
The Commonwealth Fund has provided information on how each administration would address women’s reproductive rights:
While both parties show strong backing for maternal wellness, a Harris administration would likely build on this by addressing racial and ethnic disparities, working to close the gaps in women’s health research, growing the maternal health workforce, launching the maternal health hotline, and strengthening access to contraception.
The former president may continue to support strategies he outlined in his first term, such as reducing maternal mortality, decreasing low-risk cesarean deliveries, and achieving blood pressure control for women of reproductive age with high blood pressure. However, Trump has pushed the abortion debate to the states to decide while boasting that he “was able to kill Roe v. Wade.” Despite trying to distance himself from the conservative policy agenda Project 2025, the blueprint was written by his close allies and states an intent to roll back abortion access, amongst other initiatives involving immigrants, climate change, and unleashing undue force on protestors.
Willie J. Allen Jr., Orlando Sentinel, Tribune News Service via Getty Images.
While Trump has walked a tightrope on the abortion debate, waffling and flipflopping his stance, he has said he will not sign a national abortion ban. However, he’s declined to say whether he would veto such a ban if it crossed his desk. Days ago, Trump claimed that he would use the military to control the “enemy within,” referring to “extreme leftists,” and has described Democrats as radical on the abortion issue and claiming that they support abortion up to the moment of birth and after…. which, btw, is not abortion.
Regardless of what side of the aisle you typically vote or register, this is the year to step outside those categories and consider what is at stake. Women are dying due to abortion bans. An Ohio 10-year-old rape victim had to cross state lines to access an abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In Texas, there has been a dramatic increase in pregnant women dying after the abortion ban.
“Controlling reproduction is the first step in any hierarchical or authoritarian government.”
Irene Su, a professor and director of the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellowship Program at the University of California, San Diego, points out that “long-term, the role of the president in helping to set up potential judiciary members has a long-ranging impact on the future of women’s health.” How we vote in November will severely affect women today and future generations.
We encourage you to consider the lasting repercussions for the safety and health of women nationwide when you enter the ballot box on November 5th. It is imperative to remember that laws that seek to limit abortions do not lower the rates of abortion but merely make them less safe.
Tamara White, is founder and board president of Bader+Simon, as well as a writer, artist and supporter of women’s reproductive rights.