Brittany House: DC Council uplifts right to personal decision-making with reproductive health bill
The District is one step closer to ensuring that access to safe, legal abortion is protected for its residents. The DC Council voted unanimously in its first reading Feb. 4 to approve legislation that would ensure that the full range of reproductive health options, including abortion, is protected for District residents — and it comes not a moment too soon. The Supreme Court’s first abortion case since Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh took the bench is just days away. The council should move quickly to pass the Strengthening Reproductive Health Protections Amendment Act and send it to Mayor Muriel Bowser. I’m glad to see that it’s on the March 3 agenda for a final vote.
Everyone in DC should be able to live a safe and healthy life, free to define their own path — and that includes making decisions about whether and when to become a parent. When I found out I was 2 1/2 months pregnant in 2012, I had just graduated from Howard University three months prior and started my career working at a government agency. I had four roommates and a partner with whom I didn’t see a future. I decided to have an abortion.
As I sat in the Planned Parenthood office, I became more convinced of my decision. I knew I made the right choice for the following reasons: I wanted to be a financially stable, older and established parent who planned for a family with a loving partner. I wanted the ability to provide the best life possible for my child, which I couldn’t as a recent college graduate.
During my consultation, I met with an African American doctor. We traded stories about family and medical school endeavors. I told him that I had never been on birth control. I left with a prescription for antibiotics to prevent infection during my medication-induced abortion, a prescription for NuvaRing, and advice on getting into medical school.
I also left feeling respected in my decision. I wasn’t forced to wait 24, 48 or 72 hours by the government. I didn’t endure a medically unnecessary ultrasound. I didn’t listen to a doctor read a script written by politicians trying to change my already made-up mind. I didn’t drive hundreds of miles or walk through a wall of protesters.
It should be that simple for every person. Safe, legal abortion is a right — no matter who you are, where you live, or how much money you make.
I made the best decision for me, I received the care I needed, and I am living the life I want.
Today, I’m a Master of Public Health candidate and a future doctor. I’m also in a loving relationship with a partner with whom I see a future. I wouldn’t have these things today if it weren’t for access to safe, legal abortion.
However, I’ve heard stories from women who had abortions before Roe v. Wade became the law of the land in 1973. I’ve heard stories about women who tried to get an abortion and lost their lives in the process.
With Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, the threat is more urgent than ever. Across the country, politicians are rushing to pass dangerous abortion bans. Access to the full range of reproductive health care is at stake for my generation and generations to come.
This is why enacting policies in DC to safeguard our rights and freedoms is so important. If we don’t secure a future that protects abortion and respects personal decision-making, we leave our city open to the attacks of politicians who want to outlaw abortion.
When politics dictate who has access and who doesn’t, people of color often suffer the most. Poor access to health care disproportionately impacts people of color in DC, who experience worse health outcomes and a lack of maternal delivery wards.
Our lack of statehood and home rule leaves our city’s health care vulnerable to the whims of Congress. The DC Council plays a critical role in ensuring the rights of our residents are protected under the law. With bills like the Strengthening Reproductive Health Protections Amendment Act, we can codify abortion protections and ensure every person in DC can have the reproductive health care they need — no matter what.
Health care is a human right. And abortion is health care. The case before the Supreme Court will determine whether a medically unnecessary restriction on Louisiana abortion providers can remain in place, which could pave the way for states to ban abortion access for at least 25 million women across the country. If we don’t pass protections against these attacks before the Supreme Court rules, health outcomes for disproportionately affected women in our city will likely deteriorate further.
Thank you to the DC Council for recognizing the urgent need for this bill and championing reproductive rights. We cannot afford to wait: We must move quickly to protect what’s at stake for me and thousands of the District’s other residents.
Brittany House is a Ward 4 resident. In addition to being a young professional and full-time public health graduate student in the Washington area, she volunteers at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC, where she advocates for reproductive rights and women’s health initiatives.
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