At this year’s March for Life, anti-abortion advocates celebrated. A majority of Supreme Court justices support abortion bans, so an upcoming ruling on the case of Dobbs v. Jackson puts Roe v. Wade at risk. Despite calling themselves pro-life, I do not feel as if the movement cares for my life.

For nine years, I was in an emotionally abusive relationship. Pregnancy terrified me because I didn’t want to raise a child in a cruel environment. A baby would have tied us together forever.

Now that I’m in a loving relationship, birth is still not an option for me. The average birth in Colorado costs $13,593 – almost half of what I make in a year. Even if I were to choose adoption, a forced pregnancy would make it impossible for me to save for my future goals.

I’ve been lucky enough to never need to make that choice, but a lot of my loved ones weren’t. We all have different reasons for not wanting to give birth, all of them valid. When people celebrate abortion restrictions, they ignore the lived reality their neighbors face.

No one is more capable of deciding how to proceed with a pregnancy than the person who is pregnant. That’s why we need state governments to protect access to abortion care and prepare for the very real possibility that the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs. Wade. Legislators in Colorado have proposed a bill that would protect the right to an abortion, the right to choose birth and the right to use, or refuse, birth control. We need the Reproductive Health Equity act now more than ever. So please call your state legislators and urge them to vote yes on the Reproductive Health Equity Act.

Paulina Castle

Aurora

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