Viewpoint: We stand by life, liberty and Roe
At this point, it seems inevitable that Indiana will be placing more restrictions on the lives of women to control their bodily autonomy. It also seems obvious to many Hoosiers that this is a bad idea, with repercussions that go well beyond a single court decision.
Here’s what we can expect in coming days: The U.S. Supreme Court will likely issue a ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. A leaked draft indicates that this new opinion would overturn the 50-year precedent set by Roe v. Wade that allows a woman to make the serious decision of childbearing in private consultation with her physician. As requested by 100 Indiana legislators, Gov. Eric Holcomb has called a special session of the Indiana General Assembly on July 6. Indiana’s state senators and representatives will cast their votes. And that will be it: More restrictions will be placed on women’s bodily autonomy.
The decision to favor Dobbs will have serious implications for women and their families. Here are just three examples.
• Economic stability. Simply put, overturning Roe v. Wade will affect women in all circumstances of life. It will affect women of lower economic means disproportionately. Hoosier women with economic means will be able to travel out of state for legal abortions. Without that option, some Hoosiers might resort to dangerous measures to terminate a pregnancy or carry the baby to term and be forced to rely on unstable welfare safety nets.
• Bodily autonomy. It’s horrifying to think that a pregnant woman sitting with her healthcare provider will not have the freedom to rule her own body. And it’s frightening to know that, in essence, elected officials have made healthcare decisions for her without any knowledge of her health and her life situation.
• A slippery slope. Gutting the fundamental ground on which Roe was based — the idea of privacy — allows other landmark cases to come up for grabs. Specifically, it could open the door to overturning cases that affect Americans’ ability to make their own decisions about: birth control and contraceptives, same-sex marriage and fertility treatments, including in-vitro fertilization.
As inevitable as this series of events might seem, we are not content to stand by and watch the dominoes fall, and you shouldn’t be, either. We must make our voices heard, letting our elected officials know that we not only oppose an abortion ban in Indiana, but also insist that they take action to protect women and families from the ripple effects that ban would have.
Bottom line: Let them know that, together, we stand by women’s freedom to make decisions about their health care and families. We stand by life, liberty and Roe.
Sign up to be a Women4Change Action Advocate at https://secure.everyaction.com/OWAc84rbsESRuwJq-Qjgeg2 and learn about ways you can join the effort to make our voices heard by those who represent us.
Martha Lamkin and Elcira Villarreal are co-chairs of the board of directors of Women4Change, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization to promote the health, safety and respect of Hoosiers.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: It seems inevitable Indiana will further restrict control of women's bodies.
