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Friend, Friday’s Supreme Court decision has already begun wreaking havoc on our country. Many states, including neighboring states like West Virginia, have ALREADY moved to criminalize abortion, forcing many to flee to get access. A King-Siri Administration will make Maryland a North Star for abortion access and a national safe haven for those seeking care — especially for the Black and brown communities who will be disproportionately affected. As we hear more and more voices on this issue (and as you get more and more emails like this one), I want to make sure that you hear my running mate Michelle's story. Michelle has dedicated her life to the fight for women’s rights, from her time as Board President of Planned Parenthood Maryland to her current role as the Executive Director of the Women’s Law Center of Maryland. She’s been a leading voice and expert in reproductive rights issues for over a decade, and she’s the fierce leader we need serving as our next Lieutenant Governor to continue that fight in light of this abhorrent SCOTUS ruling. I couldn’t be prouder to have her as my partner in our movement to build a more equitable Maryland, and I hope you’ll take just 2 minutes to read her story of her own personal experience with women’s reproductive health care. Thank you, John King
---------- Forwarded message --------- This is a long email, but it’s about my very personal experience with the rights that the Supreme Court attacked with their decision on Friday, and I hope you’ll keep reading. If you don’t have time to read, please consider making a small contribution here to support our campaign to put our Pro-Choice Maryland Action endorsed ticket in the Governor’s mansion. As you know, on Friday the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that enshrined the right to an abortion at the national level. This ruling has already been devastating to reproductive rights, and trigger laws in 13 states around the country automatically kicked in to ban abortion. But, what the news isn’t covering is how much deeper this decision goes in restricting women’s reproductive freedom and other forms of reproductive health care like IVF (in-vitro fertilization). My incredible family was only made possible because of IVF and now that SCOTUS has put forward this decision, it could mean families like mine would not be able to exist anymore. When my husband and I wanted to start a family, we tried for over a year without success. Finally, we went to an infertility specialist to get poked and prodded for months trying to figure out why I couldn't get pregnant, and I still remember when the doctor told us he didn't think the typical courses of infertility treatment (like fertility meds, IUI, etc.) would work for us — and that the best chance was to go forward with IVF. He was right! After months of almost daily blood draws and learning how to give myself shots, we underwent our first round of IVF. Four weeks later I went for a blood test and they confirmed I was pregnant. We could hardly believe that this miracle was even possible at first. But on July 27, 2007 Braden was born (after 36+ hours of labor!!!) and he was the greatest gift we could ever ask for. When it was time to think about giving him a sibling, we tried again for another 6 months or so, but when I reached out to my doctor they didn't hesitate to get us back on track — and on New Years' Eve 2009 Kyan was born, making our family complete.
One of the hardest parts of going through infertility was feeling so alone. No one ever talked about it, it simply wasn't acceptable. After we had gone through IVF and I was pregnant, I mentioned it to a group of girlfriends — only to find out 2 were in the midst of fertility treatment and a third who was also pregnant had similarly done IVF. We could have gone through it all together if we hadn't felt we couldn't talk about it. It's why I vowed to always be very open about my fertility struggles and my IVF experience. Now I’ve spent my career advocating for women's rights and reproductive freedom. And after my experience with IVF treatments and becoming aware of so many other families struggling with infertility and similar experiences to my own, I knew I had to help others struggling to create a family however I could. And through my work leading a women’s rights organization, I heard from so many women who were unable to afford treatment due to lack of insurance coverage. I was determined to fight for expanded access and coverage for all Maryland women. In 2020, I helped lead the charge to pass legislation in the Maryland General Assembly on this issue, successfully pushing for health insurance companies to expand IVF coverage regardless of marital status. And through my work leading a women's rights organization, I heard from so many women who were unable to afford treatment due to lack of insurance coverage. I was determined to fight for expanded access and coverage for all Maryland women. In 2020, I helped lead the charge to pass legislation in the Maryland General Assembly on this issue, successfully pushing for health insurance companies to expand IVF coverage regardless of marital status. We have seen huge strides on IVF coverage and availability, but as of Friday, much of that progress is in jeopardy. Banning abortion is NOT the Republican end game, but rather just the starting point. Contraception, infertility treatments like IVF, gay marriage, trans rights, and beyond are all at risk. IVF is a critical part of reproductive health care that thousands of Marylanders and people across the country depend on. We cannot sit idly by when it’s at risk like this. We must act now. As Maryland’s next Democratic Governor and Lt. Governor, John and I are ready to lead the way in Annapolis, work with legislators, and appoint judges who will uphold established precedent to ensure that we do not go backwards when it comes to these hard fought reproductive rights. But, John and I can’t win this fight alone. We need folks like you to take action alongside us and push back against conservative attempts to restrict women’s reproductive rights. If you support our fight to protect reproductive rights, I invite you to join the cause by giving whatever amount you can today to help John and I win back the Governor’s mansion.
Thank you for hearing my story and for standing with us, Michelle Siri |
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