Moving in right direction on choice

All across the country, state by state, terrifying restrictions on abortion rights are falling into place. In 2021 alone, there have been over 600 abortion-restriction laws introduced by 47 states, with over 100 having been successfully passed.

These numbers are unprecedented. We have seen the Supreme Court become packed with anti-choice justices, protesters have marched and rallied against Texas' abortion bounty-hunter laws and soon, with a landmark Mississippi case approaching the Supreme Court this winter, we as a nation teeter on the edge of an existential crisis for maintaining women's reproductive freedoms.

Illinois, however, seems to be a beacon of hope for people statewide. Reflecting the 80% of citizens that believe Roe should be codified, Illinois lawmakers seek to chisel away at one of the multitude of hurdles put in place to prevent abortion access - the Parental Notice of Abortion Act.

Surveillance and the resulting social control over women's bodies and reproductive choices is a fact of our nation's history. The Parental Notice of Abortion Act and countless laws like it not only deny women and girls access to abortion through acts of social pressure, but they also reshape how we conceptualize women in our daily lives.

Women are not a fragile population dependent on government protection from scheming clinics or their own "feminine ignorance." As our rights to abortion continue to be scrutinized on multiple fronts, it must be made clear: women and girls don't need protection from their own choices, they need protection from brazen attacks on their rights. Illinois is moving in the right direction. Perhaps the nation will follow.

Haley West

Woodridge