ELLENSBURG, Wash. — The latest issue on the table for discussion at the League of Women Voters of Kittitas County’s monthly meeting was reproductive health care in a post-Roe world, something many of the members feel strongly about.
“The membership is predominately female and it’s our feeling that women should have the right to do with their bodies as they see fit,” LWV of Kittitas County president Charli Sorenson said.
Sorenson said while they’re a nonpartisan nonprofit and don’t take positions on candidates or political parties, they do take an interest in issues like healthcare, climate change and reproductive health care.
That’s why they invited the regional program director of Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and Northern Idaho, Faviola Lopez, to give them an overview of the organization’s history, advocacy efforts and how they’re operating post-Roe.
Faviola said when the news broke that the landmark Supreme Court decision had been overturned, patients from Idaho started flocking to their Eastern Washington clinics. She said their long-term goal is to open a facility in Idaho.
“But because of the hostility in Idaho, it is quite a process to purchase land or lease a building,” Lopez said. “Because of the stigma … people who want to sell to us or rent to us are often harassed by the protestors.”
Lopez said another goal the organization has long-term is to support or craft legislation that protects reproductive rights.
“In the year 2024, we are hoping to allow the state of Washington to codify the right to abortion services in our state constitution,” Lopez said.
Sorenson said the information provided by Lopez will allow members to make educated decisions about what they support — or don’t support — when it comes to reproductive health care.
“We don’t care how people vote,” Sorenson said. “We just want them to vote.”
More information about the League of Women Voters of Kittitas County and their upcoming events can be found here.
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