The Supreme Court must strike down the Texas law that challenges women’s Constitutional right to make decisions about their own health care. It turns back the clock on women’s rights and jeopardizes the health of future generations of women. That law is set to further limit access to reproductive health care, including contraception and abortion, for millions of women by creating requirements that doctors say are unnecessary.

Many clinics have already shut down and, if the law stands, half the remaining clinics will close, leaving only 10 clinics to serve five million mostly poor women. They won’t be able to get to an open clinic to access services essential for their health and the stability and success of their families. More unplanned pregnancies are already happening.

In my own life, without the help of these clinics offering contraception, I could not have planned the size of my family. With an unplanned pregnancy, I would have had to stop school, lose my job, or even remain in a hazardous relationship. As a single mother, with no other family nearby, I would have had few options to keep my family out of poverty. And there are many women in the community who would face these hard challenges without the blessing of the services of reproductive health clinics.

Children are a blessing and we can care for them best when we have the services we need to plan the size of our families.

The Texas law must be stopped.

Lynnea Hawkins, Auburn

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