No more pressing need than health care

A letter from earlier this month expressed my concern regarding the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling that Camera readers were misinformed. The letter is correct to point out that the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs does not outlaw abortion. However, by returning the issue to the states, abortion will in fact soon be outlawed in potentially a majority of states, and so we do indeed have every reason to be outraged, panicked and more. If Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg were still sitting on the court, it’s impossible to imagine she’d have joined a majority decision overturning Roe, despite having observed in the past that there were flaws in Roe’s reasoning. In his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Roberts stated that the case could (and possibly should) have been decided without overturning Roe. Dobbs is, I think, the first time in the history of the court that a constitutionally established right has been removed, and it was a right that had stood for nearly half a century — two generations of American citizens — and which had been confirmed by a later decision (Planned Parenthood v. Casey). It is a certainty that a future court will return to Dobbs and find it even more full of flaws than Roe.

So, where do we put our energy next? Abortion care is a subset of reproductive health care which is part of health care which should be a right of all humans living in the U.S. (A quick note for those tempted to dismiss the importance of reproductive health care: A typical girl in the U.S. begins menstruating when she’s between 8 and 14 years old. An 8-year-old is in 3rd grade. The reproductive period of a person’s life can be most of it, with menopause beginning between 45—55.) An individual’s right to receive health care should not be based on employment, state of residence, income level, biological sex or gender, age or any other factor. A right to health care was not established by the original Constitution because, as I understand it, there was no such thing as “health care” in the late 18th century. But it’s clear today that, in order to “promote the General Welfare” (preamble to the Constitution), there’s no more basic and pressing need. Though it’s devastating to think of the people deprived by their states of the right to make their own health care choices, I’m thankful to live in Colorado where the right to abortion is secure for now and look forward to freeway signs similar to some that have gone up in Illinois: “Welcome to a state where abortion is safe and legal.”

Diane Schwemm, Boulder