Note: The following came in from an external source. While we attempt to share work that reflects the WDP platform, you may come across some words that are not exactly what WDP would have written. Perhaps you will agree with what you read below, perhaps not. Your mileage may vary.
We read with great interest the article by Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, entitled “Life is beautiful and deserving of our support.” Ms. Rodriguez-Williams sponsored the abortion ban that is being challenged in state court as an unconstitutional infringement of our right to privacy and to make our own healthcare decisions.
Ms. Rodriguez-Williams reports that she made her own decisions about what medical care she needed after having several miscarriages. During two of those miscarriages, she decided, presumably on the advice of her healthcare provider, to undergo a “dilation and curettage procedure.” A “D&C” is a medical procedure that can be done for several different reasons, including treatment after a miscarriage or for first trimester abortions.
It’s ironic that Ms. Rodriguez-Williams was able to confer with her healthcare provider about what was best for her, given her personal and medical circumstances. But yet she wants to deny other women the ability to make those decisions for themselves and to insert the government between a woman and her healthcare provider.
A majority of Wyoming residents agree, as do most Americans, that the government should not be involved in personal medical decisions that are better left to individuals, their faith and their healthcare providers. We need politicians and leaders in our state who trust women to make their own very personal healthcare decisions.
We represent organizations that work to protect every person’s right to access the full range of reproductive health options, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. No matter how Ms. Rodriguez-Williams tries to spin it, abortion is healthcare. And when pregnancy complications threaten a mother’s life or health, there is no doubt that abortion can be life-saving care.
Fortunately for now, abortion remains legal in Wyoming while we await a decision from the courts.
Wyoming stands for freedom, equality, independence, and the right to access a full healthcare spectrum. That includes the constitutional right to make personal healthcare decisions, including whether or not to have an abortion.
By Maggie Hunt, Jenefer Pasqua, Julie Burkhart, Christine Lichtenfels. Originally published in the Casper Star-Tribune on Feb 2, 2024. Groundhog Day, indeed. -ed