Hurricane Helene exacerbated barriers to North Carolina abortion access
The past month in North Carolina has been a total disaster for the abortion industry. Asheville Planned Parenthood was forced to shut down as a result Hurricane Helene. Thousands of people still lack electricity, running waters, and roads that can connect them to doctors’ offices or pharmacies. The temporary suspension of Georgia’s abortion ban for six weeks, and then its reinstatement a week after, added to the confusion for people seeking care in the South. People who normally travel to North Carolina to get abortion care found themselves without options and answers. My own community has been one of the hardest hit since then. Latines, with more than 1.1 millions people, are the fastest-growing population in North Carolina. Many of them are descendants of immigrants, who are struggling to understand the harsh reality of people seeking reproductive health care in this nation. In the 1980s my parents fled El Salvador’s civil war, hoping to find a more stable, safer place to raise their family. It was never in my mind that I would be living in North Carolina, and calling it home, decades later. I also did not expect to see people here face the same oppressive laws as pregnant women in El Salvador. Latinos have been fighting for reproductive rights for many years. We will continue to do so until everyone has the right to control their body, life and future. In the years following Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and in my experience growing up, working, and living in this community, I’ve witnessed first-hand that reproductive freedom is deeply rooted in Latine history, present, as well as future. Since centuries, abortion has been a part of Latine culture. Many of us grew up hearing stories about our elders, who treated women with honor, cared for their health and lives, and used FDA-approved medications to end pregnancy. We are fighting for abortion access in the U.S. just as Latin Americans have been fighting tirelessly to advance this access. More than half of Latines living in the U.S. think that abortion should be legalized in most or all cases. According to the National Partnership for Women & Families, Latinas are the most affected women of color by state bans. Nearly 6.7 million Latinas live in states which have prohibited or will likely ban abortion. In North Carolina, my home state, the abortion bans in our state and attempts by politicians to restrict care have harmed more than 250,000 Latines who are of reproductive age. We must work to create a world where our children can have the freedom of choice in reproductive matters. Currently, the U.S. has nearly 19 million Latino children – approximately 25 percent of all youth in the country. That’s 19 million children who are relying on adults to create a better future for them.
Abortion access has defined our past, and lack of access is defining our present. We must continue to fight to ensure our future has true reproductive freedom. The only way to achieve this is by sticking together. We are not one monolith but we are a group. As Hurricane Helene has reminded us, the true power of our community lies in our resilience, love and respect for each other. This is why we fight for a society where everyone is free to choose what’s best for them, their families, and their future. True freedom is the ability to make choices.
