Opinion: End health oppression against women of color this November by voting for reproductive freedom

When the news broke that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, I remember weeping. This November is more than just an election: It is a quest for equality. It is a testament to the America that so many of us want moving forward.

Following the reversal of Roe, Black women face even higher risks of health complications and death related to pregnancy and childbirth. This decision has been a violent attack on maternal health for Black women across the country, but this November, Coloradans have an opportunity to address these inequities by voting “yes” on Amendment 79.

As a Colorado native, I grew up with the ability to make choices about my body because my mother’s generation fought for the right to abortion care. It’s hard to believe that my 22-year-old daughter now has less health care access than my mother did. The Supreme Court decision in 1973 (ironically the year I was born) established a nationwide, constitutional right for a person to make their own private health care decisions, including the right to an abortion before about 20 weeks gestation.

This was a landmark in the struggle of people of color — particularly Black people — to gain agency over our own bodies and reproductive lives. In 2024, the stakes are higher for Black women when it comes to reproductive health.

A “yes” vote on Amendment 79 safeguards not only the right to abortion but also ensures that the most vulnerable among us — Black and Brown women, low-income individuals, and other marginalized groups — retain access to critical health care. This amendment corrects a discriminatory injustice in our Constitution that most Coloradans are shocked to learn even exists.

The urgency for this amendment cannot be overstated: A recent report from the National Partnership for Women & Families shows that more than half of Black women between the ages of 15 and 49 live in states with severe abortion restrictions or outright bans. That means 57% of Black women are navigating a health care system that denies them access to essential reproductive services. For those already facing systemic discrimination in health care, the added layer of abortion bans are devastating.

In Colorado, we’ve made strides by protecting reproductive rights, but without constitutional protection, these rights are at risk. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Colorado has seen five anti-abortion bills introduced, and without the passage of Amendment 79, the ability to make personal health care decisions could be taken away with the stroke of a pen. As a community leader, I say “not on my watch!”

It’s time to be bold, strong and vigilant and let America know that we are “Not going back” to a time when our Black bodies were mere chattel to be auctioned or bartered off.

Prior to the passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery, enslaved Black women were literally property and denied control over our reproductive systems. Throughout history, Black women have been denied bodily autonomy, from forced sterilizations to systemic barriers to reproductive care. For women of color, the right to control our own bodies has been denied to us throughout our 400 year history in the United States.

This fight is about justice, equity, and the ability of Black women to control our own lives and futures. Amendment 79 is about securing that autonomy, once and for all.

Many Black and Brown women have come together from diverse organizations across Colorado, united in the belief that everyone deserves access to affordable, accessible abortion care.

As Coloradans, we have the power to challenge this moment and give people hope. We can be leaders in protecting abortion access and affirming the humanity and agency of every person in our state, especially Black women. This is our chance to protect future generations from the injustices that have plagued the past. In November, we must come together to vote “yes” on Amendment 79 and take this critical step toward reproductive justice.

Portia Prescott is the president of the Rocky Mountain NAACP CO-WY-MT State Conference. Portia, a former board member for Cobalt Advocates for over five years, has been an advocate and community leader, and managing partner of Jefferson Prescott Consulting, for more than 30 years in the interior west.

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