Just like other momentous occasions in history, a likely topic of future conversations is “Where were you when the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade?” As it turns out, I was at the Aspen Ideas: Health festival among leaders, entrepreneurs, and activists in the healthcare field when the decision came down.

There was a palpable shift in energy once the news broke. It was immediately clear to me and many others that the Supreme Court decision and interpretation of the constitution in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization will have immediate and lasting implications for rural racial, class, and gender equity.

Women, especially of lower-income and women of color, in rural and urban communities across the Midwest and South will feel this setback most acutely. We already are. As a result of the Supreme Court decision, here in Wisconsin, my reproductive health (along with 1.3 million women of reproductive age in the state) is now governed by a law written in 1849 — before germs and antibiotics were discovered, when humans were considered property, and women did not have the right to vote. Wisconsin is among the 13 states with “trigger bans” in place that now ban abortion, and in total, 26 states are certain or likely to ban abortion without Roe. Pregnant people in rural areas, who in many cases already had to travel great distances for health care, will have to journey even further to receive reproductive health services.

Read the full article about rural reproductive health care by Marjory Givens at The Aspen Institute.