Anyone in Maine who cares about women and their bodies should be outraged about the decision earlier this year by the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v Wade.
Some people think Roe v. Wade is controversial. I don’t. Some people feel uneasy about handing the pregnancy-termination decision over to women. Not me.
Some people think Roe v. Wade was an unclear decision, not consistent with the U.S. Constitution.
This is crap. Let me say it again. That view is crap.
I have been told by colleagues that I am known as a politician who has strong views. I “don’t take any prisoners,” people say. I accept that. On this issue, I would challenge my colleagues and all in public office, a question asked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” “So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”
If I’m reelected to the Maine House of Representatives, I will fight, scratch and claw to make stronger a woman’s right to choose. Please understand – I am not talking about a “choice” as to whether she will take a bike ride or something, but a choice as to whether she will terminate an unexpected, unwanted pregnancy. She ought not to have to justify decisions she makes about her own body to the state, or any politician.
Let me make my stance clear: My body is mine, not yours. Mine. Leave it alone.
If I’m pregnant? Persuade me. Cajole me. Lobby me. But when I make my decision, it’s my call. Not Mitch McConnell’s, not Paul LePage’s. Mine.
I believe the U.S. Constitution affirms this right to my privacy. But I also believed Roe v. Wade was settled law. With its effective reversal, we must be more clear. The U.S. Constitution ought to adopt an Equal Rights Amendment. The Maine Constitution must, too.
Mainers across party lines have long shared a belief in the right to reproductive healthcare. The way I see it, codifying the Equal Rights Amendment to the Maine State Constitution is essential to preventing government control over women’s bodies in our state regardless of political interests in the Blaine House or the makeup of our Legislature. There are also many states that don’t believe in the right to access to reproductive health care, and I believe we have a duty to pass legislation this session that ensures all living in those states are able to access services in states like Maine without consequence, and that providers are protected.
That is my belief. You don’t have to guess where I stand. I’m telling you now, because you deserve to know where I – and all politicians – stand on this fundamental issue of basic human rights.
Oppose my view? I accept your right to criticize me all you want. But I’ve made myself clear, I hope. No wobbling, no cowardice. Clarity.
At this critical time for women’s rights, I believe we ought to demand that of all our elected leaders. There is a saying I’ll paraphrase here that my Grandmother Warren had about those who straddle issues, try to be popular and have it both ways: “Two things you can always find in the middle of the road – cowards, and the occasional roadkill.”
Perhaps I don’t need to point out that she didn’t make any mention of leaders, there, in the middle of the road. Maine chutzpah for Maine women. Any questions?
Send questions/comments to the editors.
