As a candidate for San Diego City Council, I dislike delving into partisan politics. In a non-partisan race like the one for District 6, the question isn’t whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican or an Independent, it’s whether you’re aligned with Downtown special interests or the needs of our neighborhoods. I’ve made that distinction abundantly clear between myself and my opponent.
Our Neighborhoods First campaign is about being open, inclusive, and shifting power from where it’s been more and more centralized at City Hall back to our neighborhoods and communities in D6. That being said, today’s Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is shocking in the extreme. It’s unjust. And it’s wrong. The Supreme Court’s job is not to take rights away.
As I said in May, when we first learned of the pending overturn of Roe v. Wade, “No one has the right to decide for you, but you.” I stand by that on this tragic day in our nation’s history, which may also lead to repercussions on marriage equality, contraception, civil rights, the environment (oral arguments over the future of the Clean Air Act in West Virginia v. the EPA were heard Monday), and more.
To quote the American Constitution Society, “As a result of this decision, abortion is now banned in over two dozen states and will be severely restricted in others. States that do protect abortion rights will be inundated with people traveling from states with bans in place to access abortion care.”
While access to quality and safe women’s health care will remain constant in San Diego and in California, the overturning of Roe v. Wade is a terrible reminder that rights are never granted out of benevolence, and unless they are enshrined in the Constitution they are not necessarily guaranteed in permanence, even after nearly 50 years.
That this mainstay of a progressive society, consistent with dozens of nations we share a common heritage and culture and even language with, has been struck down is a disgrace. The year 1973 cannot stand as the high water mark of our nation, but unless the great power of our citizenry activates and responds, it will.
In the meantime, I am firm on this point, just as I was in May and have been throughout my life. I fully support a woman’s right to choose, and I will support access to safe and effective women’s health as a member of San Diego City Council. I am pro-choice.
