Opinion: How New York State should respond to overturning of Roe
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Queens Assemblymember Nily Rozic. AP file photo by Mike Groll
By Nily Rozic
This week’s U.S. Supreme Court unnerving decision to roll back reproductive rights established in Roe v. Wade and upheld by Planned Parenthood v. Casey sets reproductive rights in our country back — way back.
For 50 years healthcare has included access to abortion, a key option for pregnant people who do not want to become parents. This led to economic, social and personal opportunities that would not have been afforded to them without it.
For the first time in American history, our daughters will have fewer rights than their mothers.
Across the country, crucial and lifesaving rights are disappearing. Here in New York, we must stand in solidarity with our fellow Americans in other states.
First, the State Legislature must reconvene in a special session to enshrine a right to abortion in the state’s Constitution. We must also provide funding to providers and non-profit organizations to grow the capacity and meet present and future care needs.
Moreover, we need to ensure that hospitals provide the appropriate transparency of services available for what will inevitably be a growing number of patients. Many will now turn to New York for help and access to reproductive health services, and we have to be prepared and ready to assist in any way possible.
Just as prohibition did not eradicate excessive drinking in the past, banning access to legal abortions will not eradicate the termination of pregnancies, but rather lead to an increased health risk for those who need care. Forced birth under any, but especially under these circumstances, is not an effort to save lives or protect babies, but a cruel attempt at policing bodies.
The Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade will disproportionately affect those individuals that are already suffering discrimination at higher rates as a result of the intersection of gender and race, ethnicity, class or religion.
Abortion rates have been decreasing in nearly all states over the past 50 years regardless of whether or not access was restricted. Still, one in four women will have an abortion in her lifetime, so it is imperative that we minimize the barriers that keep individuals from safe, legal, accessible and affordable abortions.
With no guaranteed paid family leave and the highest maternal mortality rates among other developed nations, the United States simply does not possess the medical or social infrastructure to support all mothers and babies during or after pregnancy.
These statistics conceal even worse outcomes for some communities: maternal mortality rates are two times higher among Black mothers compared to white mothers, reflecting a long history of racism in our medical system and American society.
Our bodies and autonomy are not up for debate. Women deserve unrestricted access to reliable, safe and affordable reproductive care now and always.
Nily Rozic is a New York State Assemblywoman representing parts of Queens; in 2012, she was the youngest woman ever elected to the state legislature. She is a longtime Democratic organizer and Lindsay Fellow at the City University of New York’s Institute for State and Local Governance.
