By Kristina Mageau
On January 30th, NARAL and Planned Parenthood came together to put on the annual Washington Reproductive Health and Rights Lobby Day at United Churches and at the state capitol.
Thurston County is in the 22nd Legislative District, and there were 7 residents there to rally for their rights, meet with their legislators, and learn more about reproductive issues and lobbying. Diane Lloyd, a Thurston County resident and a working woman, said she came to the lobby day because she wanted “to find out how they [Planned Parenthood] do things.”
One of the reproductive issues being discussed was family planning. Diane said that cutting family planning “would cut services to a very large percentage of our poorer population that really needs it, who has no other way to access reproductive health care services, both birth control and also STD testing and treatment. So, it would leave a great deal of our poorer residents without any services at all.”
She continued to explain, “If you’re going to cover reproductive services, you have to cover all aspects of it, not just those that might be collateral to the political majority.”
Diane elaborated on why she was personally connected to reproductive health issues. “When I was a teenager, I had an unexpected pregnancy and I had to access services at a time when these services were not available, and they had to be done sort of back door through channels rather than be openly available to women who needed them. And it was pretty traumatic having to feel like I had to back door something that I should have had a say in, and those services should have been available to me. This was back in 1973, when abortion was actually considered illegal. So this is something I don’t want to see women lose now.”
This was Diane’s and Jill Perri’s first times attending a lobby day. They weren’t familiar with the state legislators on a personal, professional or political level until today. Jill had the opportunity to meet Senator Karen Fraser at a hearing for the Reproductive Parity Act a couple weeks ago. After the hearing, Jill thanked the senator for her support. The Reproductive Parity Act would ensure that comparable coverage would be provided for abortions for health insurance policy covering maternity care.
Jill, a young Thurston County resident, came to the lobby day because she is “an advocate for access to reproductive health for women, and men too.”
Jill described the possible outcome if family planning was cut. “Family planning cuts would lead to lack of access to preventative measures for pregnancies and STIs. So I think you would see an increase in unintended pregnancies and STIs that for people, especially lower income people, would be detrimental to their health and financial situation.”
The Reproductive Parity Act is another issue that the residents spoke to their legislators about during their meetings. In regards to the act, Jill said “I think it would bring equality back to health care and make an equal playing field for all women so that they could have the access to basic reproductive health care, no matter the status of their income.”
Jill continued, “I am a woman of reproductive age so I am hopefully not needing access to abortion care, but for family planning services, I am definitely needing access to affordable health care.”
When asked about the level of support from the Thurston County representatives, Jill said that “I get the feeling that Senator Fraser and Representative Reykdal are doing everything they can to support the act and not cut family planning.”
To add to Jill’s words, Representative Chris Reykdal and Senator Karen Fraser have stated that they will vote to keep family planning from being cut, and they will vote to support the Reproductive Parity Act. Representative Sam Hunt has also openly expressed support for keeping family planning from being cut, and he even joined Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the other lobby day attendees at the afternoon rally at the capitol.
After attending the lobby day, Jill expressed that “I think it was really exciting to get together with like minded people and talk to you know, your senators and representatives.” ◙