Giving birth can be transformative. Having an abortion can be transformative, too
Louisiana wants abortion providers to be unable to challenge abortion restrictions. If only they saw what I see
Dominika Seidman
March 15, 2020
Last week, when the state of Louisiana argued before the Supreme Court in June Medical Services v. Russo, they had a very specific message about people like me who provide abortion care. In addition to their effort to save a law that would severely limit abortion access, Louisiana and its allies are asking the Supreme Court to rule that abortion providers and clinics no longer have the standing to challenge abortion restrictions on behalf of their patients. Their arguments are based on the flawed notion that our interests are at odds with our patients, that the abortion restrictions they pass are designed to protect our patients from people like us.
I wish the justices could spend a day alongside the people I care for. I believe the experience would make the caricature of abortion providers ring as hollow for them as it does for me.