I’d like to think here in Washington, women will always make reproductive healthcare decisions with their doctors’ guidance. But as quickly as U.S. Supreme Court justices overturned settled law, our own legislators could overturn women’s rights in our state.

Indeed, some are working to overturn the Roe decision nationwide. Legislators with no medical expertise are trying to dictate women’s reproductive health care.

We’ve seen what happened in states that lost access to abortion. A pregnant 10-year-old Ohio girl had to travel to Indiana rather than bear a rapist’s child. No woman should be mandated to bear a child and be forever bound to the rapist.

Abortion is a medical procedure that is commonly used for reproductive complications like miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. A Texas hospital sent a woman home, in pain and hemorrhaging from a miscarriage instead of offering an abortion. It can take weeks for tissue to pass. Some women need surgery or medication to safely complete the process. Women and their doctors should decide, not “Big Government.”

I’m voting pro-choice for legislators who will vote to support women’s healthcare, like Patty Murray, Dave Paul, Janet St. Clair and Clyde Shavers.

Please join me, protect women’s rights. Protect women.

Roberta Jorgensen

Camano Island