Letter: Everyone should have access to affordable, quality healthcare

The League of Women Voters of DeKalb County believes every U.S. resident should have access to affordable, quality healthcare, including birth control and the privacy to make reproductive choices. As an ally of reproductive rights organizations, we know that safe access to healthcare, including abortion, is essential to our democracy.

Democracy depends on equal rights for all people. Losing our right to reproductive choice opens the door to the loss of other freedoms like marriage equality, contraception, and the right to engage in private, consensual intimacy. The attack we have seen on voting rights is an attack on democracy. The attack on reproductive choice is a continuation of silencing people in this country.

Not only is the right to a safe and legal abortion a matter of personal freedom, it’s also a major factor in the movements for racial and economic equality. Black women and all underserved communities already experience inequitable barriers and limited access to adequate health care services. Many of the communities targeted with voter suppression are the same ones who will be most impacted if reproductive freedom is also taken away.

The League of Women Voters of DeKalb County stands in solidarity with women and individuals who may become pregnant in the fight to protect reproductive freedom.

Mary Rita Nelson

DeKalb