Supreme Court delegated women to lesser status

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means that just over half of our country’s population is deprived of agency, choice, and control over their bodies during their reproductive years, with consequences that can be life-long. Women have become lesser — merely partial — citizens of the U.S.

No other ruling in my lifetime approaches the negative impact of this one. In rendering it, the six justices in the majority presume American women do not deserve and are not competent to make their own decisions about pregnancy. These justices ignore the facts that each woman’s life is uniquely complicated and that sometimes, abortion is the best course to take. Giving the states jurisdiction over abortion curtails women’s freedom to determine what is best for their lives.

What to do? Write and call Idaho's congressional delegation (and others in Congress) to support passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act, so that abortion up to the point of viability will be codified as a constitutional right. Contact state legislators; perhaps Idaho’s restrictive trigger law can be modified or rescinded. Talk to others about your views. Find out why nearly 25% of American women by age 45 seek abortion. Vote for candidates who support women's rights.

No woman plans to or wishes to have an abortion, but when, in her view, it is necessary, it absolutely should be available. Only then will female Americans regain the level of citizenship they attained on Jan. 22, 1973.

JUDY BOUCIAS

Sandpoint