Women's Reproductive Health

One year ago today, the Supreme Court of the US took away our right to bodily autonomy. 

LWV President Dr. Deborah Turner launches her three-part blog series about the impact of Dobbs and other anti-abortion legislation with a look at the medical impact of anti-abortion laws.

LWVUS President Dr. Deborah Turner issued the following statement after the Supreme Court issued a stay of a lower court decision that limited access to the abortion drug mifepristone while the issue is heard on appeal.

Without the ability to make reproductive decisions for one’s body, those who can become pregnant cannot participate equally in our democracy.

Further, since the Dobbs decision reversing the right to abortion, numerous state governments have introduced legislation directly or indirectly related to reproductive rights, challenging doctrines of US democracy. 

This story was originally published by WIFR.

It’s been seven months since Roe v. Wade was overturned, escalating debate over reproductive rights.

Women’s reproductive rights has been a back-and-forth conversation for decades, but some groups want to make sure the conversation keeps moving forward and that women are listening.

A panel of health experts spoke to Freeport residents in an event sponsored by the League of Women Voters. They say the goal Tuesday night was to educate people, especially women, on their bodies and the rights they have to protect them.

In November 2022, the League sent delegates in person and virtually to observe the COP27 Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Experts highlighted ways in which climate change disproportionately affects women and girls, who are insufficiently represented in climate change response decision-making. 

In a groundbreaking year, you rallied, donated, wrote representatives, and voted to defend a democracy in which all voters can safely and fairly make their voices heard.

Here are a few highlights.

This story originally aired on KLKN TV.

The League of Women’s Voters of Nebraska is preparing for a busy legislative session in 2023.

This interview was originally published by TheSkimm.

College freshman and League of Women Voters of New York City intern, Cassidy Recio Brenes, is excited to vote for the first time.

In June 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey and ending the federal constitutional right to abortion. As the Supreme Court no longer recognizes the right to abortion as protected by the US Constitution, this ruling makes state constitutional amendments even more significant, leaving the right to abortion up to federal or state laws. 

This piece was originally published in VTDigger.

This commentary is by Dottye Ricks of Barre Town, a Reproductive Liberty Amendment liaison for the League of Women Voters, of which she’s been a member for more than 30 years. She is a retired public school and university teacher, an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Barre and a longtime member of the gleaning service group Community Harvest of Central Vermont.