Before Roe v. Wade was passed into law, a 16-year-old Barbara Lee was terrified when she learned she was pregnant.

“[My mother] knew how religious I was and she gave me all the options, and knew that it was going to be a hard decision, but she told me whatever your decision is, it’s nobody’s business. ... That’s the way it should be still. It’s the person’s private decision in terms of their body autonomy,” Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., told “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen.

Lee noted she still struggles to speak about this very personal event in her life, however the limits on abortion access in late 2021 compelled her to do so. Lee said several people thanked her for sharing her story.

“So many members of Congress came up to me. People I’ve known forever, men and women, and said to me, ‘I know somebody who had an abortion,’ or ‘I had one,’ or ‘my girlfriend did,’ or ‘my wife did, I’m glad you talked about,’ Lee said. “And so it opened up Pandora’s box in many respects, people who never had talked about it and they shared it with me.”

There are still several routes Lee is attempting to explore, such as the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021. This act aims to “protect a person’s ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services.”

“By telling our story, people know that we’re going to be with them, regardless. We’re going to find ways to keep medication abortion available. We’re going to find ways and raise money,” Lee said. “If we have to help send people to other states for abortions. I mean, it’s not over.”

Lee had an abortion in a “back alley” in Mexico, when it was a crime to do so both in Mexico and in the United States. She detailed her constant fear of being arrested by the police during and following the procedure. 

“I don’t want anyone to experience that fear. I don’t want anyone to ever worry about making their own private, personal decisions. [Their decision should be] based on what they want to do, not what a judge or a politician or an elected official or anyone else does,” Lee concluded.

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