Protect health care and reproductive freedom

As a certified nurse midwife, I’ve spent my career helping women take control of their health, and one of the most essential tools in that journey has been contraception. It isn’t just about preventing pregnancy; it’s about managing conditions like endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and even reducing the risk of certain cancers. For Montana’s women, the right to contraception means the ability to plan their futures, protect their health and live with autonomy. Without contraception, women lose not only health options but also control over their lives and decisions.

But today, attacks on contraception, including the spread of misinformation, have never been greater. As a health care provider, I see the consequences of these falsehoods every day. Women are misled about the safety and effectiveness of IUDs or emergency contraceptives like Plan B, making it harder for them to make informed decisions. This misinformation doesn’t just harm individuals — it undermines the entire healthcare system and erodes trust in medical professionals.

At the same time, extremist politicians are working to strip away women’s rights and control personal health care decisions. In 2024, thirteen states have introduced fetal personhood bills, which are a “gateway for restricting contraception” and could ban common forms of birth control, including IUDs and emergency contraception.

 Here in Montana, we need leaders who stand up for our rights, not take them away. Thankfully, we have a leader like Sen. Jon Tester, who has always fought for women’s reproductive freedoms and pushed back against political attacks on health care and our right to contraception. He gets the last thing Montana women need is having the government tell them what they can do with their own bodies.

Tester co-sponsored the Right to Contraception Act, which would have codified the right to contraception, ensuring that birth control, IUDs and emergency contraception remain available. Despite overwhelming public support — more than 90% of Americans believe in protecting this right — nearly every Republican voted against the Right to Contraception.

Tester voted to protect this essential right because he knows that women, not politicians, should make decisions about their health. His leadership on this issue has been critical, and his voice will be essential in the battles to come.

Make no mistake, as Election Day approaches, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The 2024 elections will define the future of women’s rights in Montana. The right to contraception is about ensuring that women can control their health, their bodies and their futures. In Montana, where independence and personal freedom are core values, this right must be defended at all costs.

Tester has always stood up for Montana’s women. Tester’s opponent, Tim Sheehy, does not. Sheehy opposes CI-128, the ballot measure to protect Montanans’ reproductive freedoms; Sheehy supported a national abortion ban, and he refuses to call for federal protections for birth control. Montana deserves leaders who defend our rights, not those who support taking them away.

This November, we face a critical choice. Will we continue to elect leaders like Tester, who stand up for women’s rights, or let politicians take control of our healthcare decisions? I am standing with Tester because he stands with us — women, healthcare providers, and families who rely on the freedom to make our own choices about our bodies.

Brooke Cadwell is a certified nurse midwife and a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner specializing in women’s health and reproductive rights advocacy in Bozeman.