Women's Reproductive Health
The Lochner era marked the beginning of the US Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) expansion of its powers into unenumerated rights, and by extension, Americans’ economic and social lives, which persists today.
The development of substantive due process brought many unenumerated rights under the Constitution, meaning SCOTUS had the power to expand and protect them. But as seen with abortion, substantive due process also made it possible for SCOTUS to overturn unenumerated rights; after all, an institution that can grant rights may also take them away. The end of Roe v. Wade was a powerful lesson that personal freedoms depend upon courts and judges being willing to defend and protect them.
The Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funding for most abortions. As a result, most people enrolled in public health programs cannot use their health care coverage to pay for abortion services. This poses a particularly devastating barrier to people living with low incomes, including the more than 16 million women of reproductive age enrolled in Medicaid.
Jefferson City, MO — The League of Women Voters of Missouri praised a Sept. 25 judicial decision overturning the Secretary of State’s deceptive ballot language for a reproductive freedom initiative.
From January – August 2023, state legislatures nationwide passed various bills into law. While following these developments, the League noticed several important trends around voting rights and election administration.
There is only one way we can ensure that the promise of democracy is kept: by fervently participating in our nation’s political processes, ensuring our voices are heard.
For the second year in a row, the League has declared August 26 to be Women’s Inequality Day because of the historic challenges women and our allies currently face.
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This article was originally published by Reuters.
"This is much larger than one issue; it's much larger than one party or one election," said Jen Miller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. "This is about a freedom that Ohioans have had for more than a century."
In June 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion. This ruling eliminated a fundamental right that women and people who may become pregnant held for nearly fifty years and left the right to abortion up to federal and state legislation.
One year after Dobbs, 20 states are enforcing more limited abortion bans than before the ruling, including 14 states that have banned abortion at conception. Additionally, many have implemented other restrictions that make abortion less accessible.
Last year’s SCOTUS decision repealing the right to abortion continues to affect millions of people nationwide. Yet while most of us are familiar with its impact on family planning, I wonder if we all understand the full repercussions on every aspect of our lives?
This story was originally published by RadioIowa.
Dr. Deborah Ann Turner, president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, is an OB/GYN who was medical director at Planned Parenthood North Central States. She previously practiced at hospitals in Davenport, Mason City and Des Moines. “Respect the people seeking abortion as individuals,” Turner said at the hearing “…You have no license or right to make medical decisions about anyone’s health except your own.”