Sheryl Johnson: Debate about abortion needs to focus on health care and defending personal freedom

The United States Supreme Court in their Dobbs decision forces us to have a meaningful and respectful discussion on reproductive freedom in the United States. I believe the Supreme Court wrongly put this issue back on the states, meaning that a woman’s ability to make decisions for herself and her family now is controlled by 50 different state governments and her fate is based on her zip code. That’s just not right. 

I am committed to guaranteeing the personal freedom for all women across the United States to make their own reproductive decisions without government interference.  I respect deeply held personal and religious beliefs, and I also believe we need to protect the freedom of all individuals to live their religious practices as they freely choose.

But we can’t let those personally held religious convictions be weaponized into laws that allow the government to control others’ freedoms.  This is out of touch with the core values of our Founding Fathers, the separation of state from religion, and the concept of individual liberty.  

I do believe that we can all work harder together to prevent unwanted and unexpected pregnancies. We can find additional support and resources for women who want to continue their pregnancy and raise their child. We can reduce the barriers for adoption by lowering the financial costs for parents looking to adopt and providing needed health care and counseling to the biological mother.

In my conversations across the state, we’ve all agreed that we can do more to reduce unwanted pregnancies and support women who struggle with this issue. I’ll work hard to find these opportunities for consensus and push for laws that support pregnant women and help reduce unwanted pregnancies.
My opponent Dusty Johnson doesn’t appear to have that same desire to find compromise and solutions on this issue. His record as a career politician tells a story of extremism.

He continues to support federal limitations on reproductive freedoms, even while his party and its national ticket try to backpedal into a so-called “states’ rights” stance. But this isn’t about state boundaries. This is about the freedoms of every woman in America. Securing women’s individual liberty by keeping the government from having the power to control women’s bodies is one of the reasons I decided to run. 

South Dakota’s women deserve the same personal freedoms as women in other states. Right now, our reproductive rights depend not on personal values or health-care needs, but on your address — or even which state you’re driving through. This unequal application of individual liberty and personal freedom is un-American and unsustainable. 

This patchwork of state laws means unequal freedoms for American women. The only solution is federal protections that ensure reproductive health care is available to all women, no matter where we live. This is not a debate about political preferences. It’s about individual liberty and the basic rights of women to make their own health-care decisions. It’s about fairness, equality, and freedom.

Sheryl Johnson of Sioux Falls is the Democratic candidate for South Dakota’s lone seat in the United States House of Representatives.