When it became known that the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, I remember crying. This November is more than just an election: it is a search for equality. It is a testament to the America that many of us want to see moving forward.

Following the repeal of Roe, Black women face even higher risks of health complications and death related to pregnancy and childbirth. This decision has been a violent attack on the maternal health of Black women across the country, but this November, Coloradans have the opportunity to address these inequalities by voting “yes” on Amendment 79.

As a Colorado native, I grew up with the ability to make decisions about my body because my mother’s generation fought for abortion rights. It’s hard to believe that my 22-year-old daughter now has less access to health care than my mother. The Supreme Court decision in 1973 (ironically the year I was born) established a nationwide constitutional right for a person to make their own private health care decisions, including the right to have an abortion before 20 weeks of gestation.

This was a milestone in the struggle of people of color, particularly black people, to gain control over our own bodies and reproductive lives. In 2024, the stakes are higher for Black women when it comes to reproductive health.

A “yes” vote Amendment 79 safeguards not only the right to abortion, but also ensures that the most vulnerable among us – Black and Brown women, low-income people, and other marginalized groups – retain access to critical health care. This amendment corrects a discriminatory injustice in our Constitution that most Coloradans are surprised to learn even exists.

The urgency of this amendment cannot be underestimated: a recent report by The National Partnership for Women and Families shows that more than half of black women between 15 and 49 years old live in states with severe restrictions or outright bans on abortion. That means 57% of Black women are navigating a healthcare system that denies them access to essential reproductive services. For those already facing systemic discrimination in healthcare, the added layer of abortion bans is devastating.

In Colorado, we have made great strides in protecting reproductive rights, but without constitutional protection, these rights are at risk. Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, there have been five anti-abortion bills introduced in Colorado, and without the passage of Amendment 79, the ability to make personal health care decisions could disappear in one fell swoop. As a community leader, I say “not on my watch!”

It is time to be bold, strong and vigilant and let America know that “we are not going back” to a time when our black bodies were mere commodities to be auctioned or traded.

Before the passage of the 13th Amendment that ended slavery, enslaved Black women were literally property and denied control over our reproductive systems. Throughout history, Black women have been denied bodily autonomy, from forced sterilizations to systemic barriers to reproductive care. As women of color, we have been denied the right to control our own bodies throughout our 400-year history in the United States.

This fight is about justice, equity, and the ability of Black women to control our own lives and future. Amendment 79 tries to guarantee that autonomy, once and for all.