Letters to the Editor by Bobbi Seabolt

March 17, 2022

     Thank you to Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., for voting yes on the Women’s Health Protection Act (HR3755) in the Senate on Feb. 28. The Senate voted on the bill that had passed out of the House, but unfortunately it did not reach enough votes to overcome the filibuster. The Senate Republican filibuster has now killed a woman’s right to choose, voting rights and Democrat-supported bills on child care, child tax credit, climate change and lower prescription drug costs.  

     The WHPA was drafted to codify the Roe v. Wade decision of the Supreme Court, now under assault. Roe v. Wade gave women the right to a safe abortion prior to the viability of the fetus (24 weeks.) The WHPA prohibits states from limiting a woman’s right to choose, and it prohibits calling for long wait times or additional unnecessary medical procedures. It does not call for U.S. government payment of abortions — that is decided by the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of U.S. funds to pay for abortions. It also does not support late-term abortions, allowing for an abortion only at a time that threatens the life or health of the mother.  

     Ads now running on TV saying Sen. Kelly supports extreme late-term abortions and U.S.-funded abortions are just not true. These ads are funded by the Susan B. Anthony List, an avid anti-choice PAC, who decided to drag poor Susan B. Anthony, who did not have a position on abortion, into the fight.  Women have had control over their bodies and their reproductive health since 1973. Polls show 71% of the population supports a woman’s right to choose. Women in Arizona are at particular risk with the Republican Arizona Legislature currently voting on SB1164, a bill that mirrors the draconian Mississippi law. Women are not going back. 

Bobbi Seabolt, Casa Grande  

August 26, 2021 

     In 1973 Congress declared Aug. 26 Women’s Equality Day to commemorate passage of the 19th Amendment, women’s right to vote, and as a symbol of the continued fight for equal rights for women. Women celebrate Aug. 26 and the fight continues.

     When the Constitution was adopted, “We the People of the United States…” did not include women. Not until the 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 granting freed slaves the right to vote were just male former slaves allowed to vote, and we know that the fight on voter suppression of people of color continues today.

     At the 1848 women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, the movement for the vote began its 72-year sojourn. It was first introduced in Congress in 1878 at the behest of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Opposition to voting by women was widespread and the amendment did not see the light of day again until 1914. While the American women’s voting rights movement consisted mainly of civil disobedience, many of the women were arrested, imprisoned, beaten, hung by their thumbs, fed worms and force-fed. In May 1919, two-thirds of Congress voted in favor of the 19th Amendment; it was sent to the states for ratification, and ratified in August 1920. Then as now, those opposing women’s rights tried to stop it.

     Today women are still fighting for the Equal Rights Amendment granting women full legal equality, formally added to the rights and protections of the Constitution. Numerous Supreme Court cases over the years have proven that women are not provided protections under the Constitution, despite the fact that protections have been provided to corporations.

It’s hard to believe that in the 21st century women still have to fight to correct their omission from the Constitution and be considered full citizens.

Bobbi Seabolt - ERA Task Force AZ

     Here it is just days after 9/11, and those of us who were old enough at the time to process the event know where we were that awful day. In the days after, we truly became the United States of America. We came together to grieve together, to reach out to every family member and make sure they were all right, to reach out to neighbor and our cousin's neighbor to tell them we were with them. Nineteen years ago, no one would have believed that a Republican-led Senate would for years stall health care coverage for the first responder heroes of that day, and no one would have believed this week’s news that the Trump administration secretly withheld $4 million from this fund.

     Now in 2020, we face an enemy 64 times more deadly than 9/11 — the coronavirus. Yet, with 194,000 already lost, we have not come together to fight this virus, we are not wearing masks as our opportunity to protect our family, our friends and our country. The president of this country has worn a mask maybe three to four times and has just concluded an indoor rally with maskless attendees in Phoenix, a "superspreader" event. He just called our veterans “suckers” and “losers.” The Trump-installed communications director at the CDC, with not a scrap of scientific background, is editing the MMWR, the weekly scientific data communication of the CDC to health professionals.

     We can do better than this, America, because we did. In September 2001 we came together as a nation. We can do it again, but not with this president, not with this Senate that won’t even vote on bills. Give our country a chance and vote for change, vote for Democrats.

     There is a lot of news in Arizona — our COVID cases are still increasing, and people are dying. One thing that is not news: Martha McSally is still telling everyone that she is going to protect preexisting conditions. Frankly, I’m worried about the young lady from Martha’s newest ad. She has a preexisting condition and is sure that Martha is going to protect her. When in the House, Martha voted every time to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which does protect preexisting conditions. Since its inception in 2010, according to Newsweek, the Republicans have voted 70 times to try and repeal Obamacare. Since she got to the Senate, Martha has continued her attack on those with health issues. She has voted for and supports the Protect Act — a Republican six-page bill designed to replace the well-thought-out 2,500-page-plus Affordable Care Act. The Protect Act lets insurers charge whatever they want to those with preexisting conditions. In October 2017, Trump failed to pay the federal government subsidy to insurers that was promised in the Affordable Care Act, and on June 26, 2020, Trump’s Department of Justice filed a brief supporting Republican attorneys general to eliminate Obamacare, which would leave millions of Americans uninsured during a pandemic.

     Health insurance is complicated, it was complicated before COVID and now is far more complicated. Millions are now unemployed, thus have no employer-based health insurance. Millions have or had COVID, thus have a preexisting condition. All hospitals, especially rural, face daunting financial issues. Each hospital COVID case costs thousands of dollars. Arizona needs someone we can trust, like Mark Kelly, to lead us through this pandemic and the chaos it has brought to us and our health care system.