Opportunity is there for reproductive rights

Abortion-rights activists and Women’s March leaders protest as part of a national day of strike actions outside the Supreme Court on June 24 in Washington. A new poll finds that a solid majority of Americans oppose a federal abortion ban and that a rising number support access to abortions for any reason. Alex Brandon/ap

Many Marylanders have lived their entire lives with the reproductive freedom and access to abortion that was guaranteed under Roe v. Wade. But people of my generation have not, which is why Ballot Question 1 this fall is deeply personal and important. Question 1 would guarantee a right to reproductive freedom in the Maryland Constitution, protecting access to birth control and abortion.

When I was just 20 years old, I was single, pregnant and desperate. I stood alone on Eutaw Street in downtown Baltimore, waiting to be picked up by a man I’d never met, whose job it was to deliver me to the place where I was scheduled to have an illegal abortion.

My abortion was performed in a farmhouse somewhere in rural Baltimore County, by a man whose face I never saw. For his services, I paid him $600 in cash, which today is the equivalent of more than $5,000. It was a sum of money that was difficult for me to borrow and made abortion even more out of reach for others.

I consider myself lucky; no complications prevented me from later choosing to bring children into the world. I have two adult daughters whose reproductive rights I am determined to protect.

On their behalf and on behalf of the women in this state and across the country, I have served on the boards of state and national organizations tasked with preserving their rights.

I had my abortion seven years before Roe v. Wade gave women the right to control their own reproductive destinies. Seven years before desperate women could stop using coat hangers and knitting needles and stop drinking poison — and stop standing alone on Eutaw Street, hoping to meet a man who was actually a doctor.

Today, we are faced with the reality that Roe v. Wade has been overturned. Too many states, including our neighbor, West Virginia, have total abortion bans. No one should have to endure the fear, uncertainty and financial hardship that I did in 1966. For too many, that is now the reality, and we cannot let that happen in Maryland.

This fall, we have an opportunity to ensure that Marylanders will always have the freedom to make the decisions that are right for them. Voting Yes on Question 1 will guarantee that reproductive freedom will be a fundamental constitutional right in Maryland for generations to come.

Rosalyn Jonas lives in Maryland and is a former national board chair of NARAL Pro-Choice America.