Freedom From Interference
Reproductive healthcare for rural families suffers under the new post-Roe normal
We’re in a really weird place right now.
The Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created during IVF treatments are legally “children.”
J.D. Vance spews strange pro-natalist tirades about Americans not having enough kids on every podcast that will have him.
And we’re left to maneuver a post-Roe v. Wade world after losing protections we’d had for over 50 years.
For now, this is what mainstream Republicanism has become: radical ideologues that seek to control women’s bodies regardless of the consequences.
But, individual states are passing laws and constitutional amendments on their own to protect their right to fertility treatments, abortion, and other reproductive healthcare.
And Americans have consistently voted in favor whenever it’s on the ballot – and nothing is likely to change that. Attitudes toward the right to choose show that most people believe these are private decisions to be made between patients and physicians, not government bureaucrats.
In many places, especially rural or politically conservative areas, IVF treatment is at risk, regular contraception and pill-based birth control are at risk, and abortion is at risk – even in cases of rape, incest, life of the mother, or fetal abnormalties.
But the power of pro-choice rural voters is clear: they’ve stepped up to the plate to support candidates, referendums, and ballot initiatives that protect our rights and support rural healthcare, reproductive freedom, and paid family leave.
This is an economic issue and a personal liberty issue for rural families, and this upcoming election is crucial to keep moving the needle forward toward freedom without undue interference.
SOUND OFF
What do you want to learn about the impact rural voters will have on the midterm elections? Submit your question for Heidi and Joel to answer on an upcoming episode of The Hot Dish. Email: podcast@onecountryproject.com
There has been so much misinformation in this country about how and why abortion is used, I suspect numbers of us don't know what to believe. It is a life-saving procedure. I would like to see all reproductive freedom entities go back to the basics and re-educate Americans on what reproductive and women's healthcare is.