RMC Reflects on 39th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade Decision
This week marks the 39th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, allowing families to determine their own reproductive health choices. Unfortunately, almost four decades later, the historic decision is still being contested, politicized and attacked. Since the Roe decision in 1973, countless attempts to demolish privacy and the right to choose have been waged, and in 2011 these attacks escalated to unprecedented levels. In the last year alone states approved over 80 bills, ballot measures and legal provisions to limit reproductive choice. Congress was no better, targeting even the most basic services for elimination, like Title X family planning programs, which provides preventative health services unrelated to abortion; including STD and cancer screenings.
There is no argument that during this incredibly tumultuous time, political priorities are focused on economic solutions and job creation. However, by ignoring the importance of Roe v. Wade, and casting it aside as a B or C list priority, we are nearing the point of no return. Extreme groups are clandestinely, and successfully pushing legislative efforts to increase government regulation of medical decisions, surreptitiously destroying citizens’ basic rights to privacy and the traditional doctor-patient relationship.
Politicians have turned Roe v. Wade into a campaign issue, exhibiting blatant disregard for the fundamental rights to privacy, choice and unfettered access to preventative health services. As legislators attempt to turn Roe into a black and white issue about the sanctity of life, they do so in the absence of substantiated, universally accepted medical conclusions. The right to privately select medical procedures, medications and a confidential doctor-patient relationship are not political bargaining chips to be used as a litmus test for Party loyalty or reelection efforts.
To those who have yet to realize the connection between economic solutions and the right to choice, it is incredibly simple. Smart social policy supports sound economics. Investing in prevention and education ultimately lessens costs to families and taxpayers long-term, and reduces rates of abortion procedures, disease and unintended pregnancies. The numbers are indisputable; supporting choice and programs promoting prevention are far less expensive than the alternatives- expensive, prolonged treatments for undetected illnesses, teen motherhood and increased rates of infectious diseases. Roe v Wade is not a political issue, it is common sense. The underlying principles embedded in Roe; limited government, individual liberty and preventative safeguards apply to economics as much as social policy.
We are toeing a dangerous line as state and federal legislators further legal efforts to diminish the legality of Roe v Wade and increase governmental insertion in daily lives- placing the rights to privacy and individual freedom in serious jeopardy. If we do not stand up for these basic rights, and stand against these severe governmental intrusions, we risk setting frightening precedents, and losing these freedoms for good. In order to preserve our rights, we must defend them and denounce the politicization of reproductive health, privacy and personal freedom.
