As a woman, a mother, and a person of deep faith, I approach the issue of reproductive healthcare and freedom with the utmost reverence, thoughtfulness, and respect for the issues involved. That’s why I fundamentally believe that the choice of when and how to become a mother, or how to handle a complicated or life-threatening pregnancy belongs with women themselves, and not detached politicians. I will always protect a woman’s right to choose.
For the first time in our lifetimes we have watched the Supreme Court take rights away. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, we’re seeing every day exactly what that right protected for the last 50 years– a 10-year-old rape victim being denied the healthcare her doctors recommend, women forced to go into sepsis with a miscarriage, individuals with autoimmune disorders not being able to access the gold standard medication they need. In Michigan, in particular, our healthcare is uniquely vulnerable. Over the last year we’ve gone through a whiplash of watching our protections be taken away, and then reinstated in the courts here in Michigan.
Protecting reproductive health care choices is fundamentally a matter of privacy and freedom from government control. It is a kitchen table issue, a worker’s rights issue, a child welfare issue, and a healthcare worker protection issue. As the first mom and woman to ever represent this district in Congress, I promise that I will always be a steadfast supporter of a woman’s God-given ability to make her own healthcare decisions.