Most Americans go through life believing that the Constitution was designed to protect our rights as individuals. We fervently trust that the foundations of our laws, at their core, address our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and include our right to bodily autonomy.

The ability to control one’s reproductive health is vital to controlling one’s financial destiny and to being a full participant in society. The ability to make decisions about your own health, and to access health care from a provider you trust when you need it, is a fundamental right. This includes the right to access abortion care.

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, we were shown that we can’t take for granted that this right is protected. To that end, it’s clear we need direct, explicit language in our the Maine State Constitution stating that a person’s individual rights include their right to bodily and reproductive autonomy.

It’s this need that has driven me to sponsor L.D. 780, “A Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Protect Personal Reproductive Autonomy,” which would ensure Maine’s Constitution protects this human right in crystal-clear language. It would read, in part, “Every person has a right to personal reproductive autonomy, which is central to dignity and the liberty to determine one’s own life course.”

In order to pass, it must receive two-thirds support in both the Senate and House before ultimately going to voters, who would get to decide at the ballot box. But before that, it will have a public hearing where Mainers can weigh in on what reproductive freedom means to them. That public hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 22. People can share testimony via Zoom, by submitting it in writing here, or by showing up to the State House and speaking before the Judiciary Committee in person.

I am old enough to remember a time before Roe v. Wade. I remember when people were forced to go underground and put their lives on the line to access an abortion. Far too many of us know far too well that banning abortion doesn’t stop people from getting abortions – it just stops people from getting safe abortions. I vowed early on to fight for the right to access safe, legal abortion care. More generations have joined that fight, and we stand in solidarity with each other now, just as we did before Roe.

The fact is, most people in our country agree: A 2021 national survey showed that 80% of Americans support legal abortion access. One in 4 women in our country has had an abortion. People seek abortion care for reasons that are varied and highly personal.

But the right to control one’s reproductive health covers much more than accessing safe and legal abortion care. The right to access birth control – which is used to prevent pregnancies, as well as manage chronic conditions such as endometriosis and ovarian cysts – is also covered under this umbrella. Reproductive freedom is an issue that cuts both ways: it’s also about being protected against forced sterilization or from being coerced into an abortion.

Watching Roe v. Wade being overturned by an activist Supreme Court left me feeling outraged and disheartened. I thought back to the women who risked their lives and well-being in order to get an illegal, unsafe abortion – and those who will once again be put in such a painful position. Just as my generation fought for our neighbors to have control over their lives, bodies and destinies then, the fight continues now.

The U.S. Supreme Court kicked the duty to fight for reproductive rights back to states in 2022. It is incumbent upon us now to make sure Maine’s Constitution states clearly, directly, and irrefutably: reproductive freedom is a fundamental human right.