North Dakotans Deserve Health Care, Including Abortion and IVFs

By: Elizabeth Samuelson

March 24, 2024

Just before the Alabama Supreme Court ruling, I received a diagnosis informing me that my partner and I would possibly need assistance through IVF to have a child.

I began having various labs and medical procedures completed to assess the health of my reproductive organs while representatives in North Dakota began talking about their desire to restrict IVF services because it is “putting a child in a freezer for decades on end.”

As someone who is making very difficult decisions about the health care I need on a daily basis, having my state representatives ban health care options is horrifying. I see politicians younger than me stressing that they know what is best for my health and the future health of the children I hope to have. We cannot have our government restrict access to certain types of health care just because they don’t agree with it. Everyone deserves to decide what is best for their body, lives, and future.

If we allow the government to restrict access to certain types of health care, we have a government with the power to restrict anything because they don’t agree with it. As a licensed social worker, I worry about what could be next. IVF, birth control options, and family planning education are all on the line. My potential to have a family is on the line. I deserve to plan my family without politicians inserting themselves into the exam room. North Dakotans deserve better.

Elizabeth Samuelson is a licensed social worker serving the Fargo area.