In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion that had existed for fifty years. In the nearly four years since, fourteen states have enacted near-total abortion bans. Women have been denied care for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and life-threatening complications while doctors wait for legal guidance that does not come clearly enough to save them. People have traveled hundreds of miles across state lines for care that used to be available in their own communities. And the restrictions keep expanding.
This is not a debate about when life begins. It is a debate about who has the power to make decisions about a person’s own body, health, and future. And the answer being written into law in half the country is: the state. Not the patient. Not the doctor. The state.
Reproductive freedom is not separable from women’s equality. The ability to make decisions about if and when to have children is foundational to participation in public life — in education, in careers, in civic engagement. The states that have enacted the most restrictive abortion laws also tend to have the most restrictive voting laws, the weakest labor protections, and the most inadequate social safety nets. The pattern is not coincidental.
Beyond abortion, reproductive rights encompass contraception access, maternal healthcare quality, paid family leave, childcare affordability, and protection from pregnancy discrimination. The United States is one of the only wealthy nations without guaranteed paid parental leave. Maternal mortality rates — especially for Black women — are a national disgrace.
What does a society that fully respects women’s autonomy and health look like? Submit your vision.