My body, my freedom

I fear that many Americans believe the decision (Roe v. Wade) passed 50 years ago and recently overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, allowed abortions “on-demand.” The law contained reasonable restrictions on access to legal abortions up to 24 weeks, with strict time-line and medical exceptions. The anti-abortion bills recently passed in states all over the country (and Georgia) put that serious healthcare decision in the hands of elected State, Senate and House members, the majority of whom are white men. Georgia’s law is a six-week limitation. Most women would agree that six weeks is not long enough for most woman to even know they are pregnant; a concept most men can't believe or wrap their heads around. If a state legislator’s 13-year-old daughter is tragically raped and becomes pregnant, I’m confident that they would want the right to consider a legal abortion as an option.

Back in the 1980s, my husband and I were delighted to find I was pregnant for the second time. For weeks, pregnancy tests continued to indicate that I was pregnant. Finally, after 13-14 weeks, my doctor had to break the news to us that the fetus was dead. An abortion was a necessary yet heartbreaking healthcare decision for me to make.

To me, the abortion debate goes to the core of human liberty and freedom promised every

American. Every human should have the right to make personal healthcare decisions for

themselves. The current GA law is equivalent to making a vasectomy for men illegal after the

age of 35. Not for one-second would GA Legislators consider making that healthcare decision

for men into a state law.

Now that Roe v. Wade has been over-turned, each state needs to craft abortion legislation that considers a woman’s right-to-choose within reasonable guidelines. I could never vote for a Georgia State or Federal candidate who supports banning abortions after 6 weeks without

exceptions for rape, incest or the health and welfare of the mother.

Jane Kidd

Crawford,