Kate Douglas Torrey: Obstacles to women’s freedom

In the Jan. 22 Point of View “Unrealized promises,” Lisa Levenstein argued that Roe v. Wade affirmed a woman’s right to control her reproductive health.

For nearly 40 years, from congressional passage of the Hyde Amendment through North Carolina’s 2015 legislative session, North Carolina women have seen this fundamental right eroded through medically unnecessary and personally punitive measures that disproportionately burden poor and young women.

With funding cuts, increasingly long waiting periods and consent, counseling, ultrasound and clinic facility regulations, the ultimate intent has been to insert obstacles and politicians into private and deeply personal decisions.

Our state’s recent failure to expand Medicaid – to cover those who fall into the gap between the Affordable Care Act and our current Medicaid program – should be understood, in part, as a continuation of this shameful history of denying women health care as well as self-determination.

The upcoming election is a chance for men and women across the state to change that.

This story was originally published January 29, 2016 at 4:12 PM with the headline "Kate Douglas Torrey: Obstacles to women’s freedom."