I will vote for a future that gives every citizen Reproductive Freedom.

I have written about my experiences to exercise my Reproductive Freedom here and the long road to build our family of three kids through infertility treatments, failed IVF, adoption, and a live birth in my posts “Angelfish ONE, TWO and THREE“

Reproductive Healthcare supported me through multiple non-viable pregnancies in the 1990s. My eight miscarriages and ectopic pregnancy REQUIRED medical assistance – which is being denied to childbearing individuals and families today in multiple states across the USA. Without my “abortions”, I would have most likely lost my future fertility or my life – and would have unable to give birth in 2002 and/or parent my three children today.

The experiences lead me to declare this truth:

Forced pregnancy in not risk-free nor does it guarantee a healthy child after gestation.

I’ve met multiple women who have had long term chronic health issues as a consequence of becoming a mother. One eventually needed a kidney transplant and now the medication is shutting down her muscular system and she is trying to find support to parent that now 11 year old son. I know multiple women who now have the auto-immune issue of Hashimoto’s since giving birth. The maternal mortality rates continue to rise at an alarming rate in this country and especially in the state of Texas since the 2021 Abortion Ban enacted prior to the fall of Roe.

Guttmacher June 2024 Fact Sheet on Abortion in the United States reveals that:

• As of March 2024, there were no clinics providing abortion care in the 14 states with total abortion bans in effect at that time. These states had 63 clinics in 2020. Those missing clinics are no longer there to provide ANY healthcare. There is a rise in maternity care deserts across the country.
• Abortion bans and other restrictions imposed or enforced after Roe was overturned have led to a surge in people traveling from states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted to seek care in states where abortion is available.The share of all abortion patients who traveled out of state for care increased from 9% in 2020 to 17% in 2023. No one should have to pay to travel away from their home or family to receive reproductive healthcare.
• Some 55% of people who obtained an abortion had previously had at least one birth and Some 41% of people obtaining abortions had an income below the federal poverty level (FPL) and 30% had incomes between 100% and 199% of the FPL. This is an economic issue as well as a healthcare issue but it in my opinion it is a human rights issue. Every human body should have the right to make decisions about their own body and financial freedom.

There have been ripple affects as a result the Dobbs decision. The repercussions of non-abortion related reproductive healthcare as well as the lack of financial support from states that are basically mandating forced pregnancy are disturbing.

Women who never intended to end their pregnancies have nearly died because they could not get emergency treatment. Miscarriage care has been delayed. Routine reproductive medical care is drying up in states with strict bans. Fertility treatments were temporarily paused in Alabama. 

Fortunately a few states have rallied to put reproductive rights on the November 2024 ballots. Every eligible voter of every state should have the opportunity to have their voice heard about Reproductive Healthcare and freedom to make choices about their bodies.

Status of Abortion-Related State Constitutional Amendment Measures for the 2024 Election BALLOT TRACKER Updated as of July 2024

Bans Off All Bodies. Bans Off Our Lives. Bans Off Our Health. Bans Off Our Rights. Bans Off Our Future.