Recently the states of Alabama and Georgia have enacted laws to eliminate the gains won for reproductive freedoms under Roe v. Wade.

Alabama has the strictest legislation with a total abortion ban, no exceptions even in the cases of rape, incest, or the mother’s health.

There is also upcoming legislation in my home state of Texas as well as Missouri.

The Governors of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Georgia also have limits on abortions that are not in effect yet.

These laws as they exist and if enacted will have a disproportionately high impact on poor women and women of color, both criminalizing them and eliminating their rights to reproductive freedom and healthcare.

The Committee of Interns and Residences (CIR), a local of SEIU, represents more than 16,000 residents.

We use our collective voice to advocate for high quality health care for the patients we care for.

We stand for women’s rights, reproductive rights, and reproductive freedom. It is an affront to women and our healthcare to have our right to have safe abortions criminalized and eliminated.

Women will in fact continue to have abortions but in order to avoid criminal prosecution and incarceration, these abortions will no longer be performed by  trained physicians, which means that they will not be safe abortions.

CIR vehemently opposes any limitations on reproductive freedoms on a state or federal level.

Since our inception in 1957 we have worked to expand healthcare for all, not to restrict it for some.

We advocate for ourselves as residents and that translates into better care for our patients, including women and their reproductive rights.

We join the recent protesters in echoing “my body, my choice” and believe that these laws should be overturned and the elected officials who passed these laws should voted out of office during the next election.

– Dr. Jessica Edwards, President CIR