To the editor:

Forty-one years after Roe v. Wade, politicians still seem to think that they have a mandate to restrict a woman’s access to a safe and legal abortion, despite broad disapproval of these laws from nearly all demographics. Many of these restrictions make it nearly impossible for someone to actually have access to an abortion. In some states you have to drive three or more hours to get to the nearest abortion provider — only to then have to wait 72 hours to have the procedure done. That means, unless you are able to afford a three-night stay in a hotel or two 300-mile round-trip car rides, your access to an abortion has effectively been made null and void. 

Abortion is a deeply personal and often complex decision for an individual to make. Ultimately, decisions about whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child must be left to a each person, their family, and their faith, with the counsel of their doctor. Fortunately, more than ever in the new generation believe in giving individuals actual access to their legal rights. Sixty-eight percent of millenials believe abortion should be made available in their community. Millenials believe Kansas “gynoticians” like Rep. Allan Rothlisberg should stop playing doctor when it comes to individuals’ personal, private decisions.