When women don’t have control over their own bodies, have the ability to control when or if they get pregnant, or have the ability to stop being pregnant once they already are, there’s absolutely no hope that they can achieve complete economic or social equality and be full and equal members of society.

How can someone who is a prisoner to their body not have it affect their work and force them to take time off from work, usually unpaid? How can someone who is pregnant not be forced to spend copious amounts of money on medical care? The simple answer is that they can’t.

We need to make absolutely certain that women have access to education about how to prevent pregnancy; access to contraception (and insurance coverage of any prescription forms of contraception) to actually prevent pregnancy; and access to safe and legal abortions if they decide to terminate a pregnancy.

We also need to make sure that our most vulnerable citizens, including teens and lower-income women, have access to all these things - without making them jump through hoops and get through insurmountable obstacles (like asking a teen to navigate the judicial system - something that many grown, educated women would have trouble doing). That means NO parental consent or notification requirements for minors’ access to all forms of reproductive healthcare.

The current administration has done everything in its power to make sure that women are second-class citizens and prisoners of their bodies. Actions have ranged from funneling ridiculous amounts of money to abstinence-only education programs that have been proven not to work, refusal to fund family planning facilities that present a fair and unbiased view of reproductive options (including abortion), laws that take medical decisions out of the hands of doctors and patients, and even attempts to redefine simple medical procedures and medications so that they may then be attacked and made illegal.

It’s time for a change! We need to make sure that women are protected and have complete control over their own bodies!
Age: 29
Location: Brookline, MA