By State Legislators – Kelly Cassidy, Janet Howell, Constance Johnson, Yasmin Neal, Stacey Newman and Nina Turner

In a nation where independence and individual liberty are held in the highest regard, women are consistently told what they can and cannot do. In the wake of 2010’s conservative wave, state legislatures are taking drastic actions to enact policies that will restrict rights, curtail choices, and mandate behaviors. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, women have achieved a small victory for access to high quality health care.

President Obama’s landmark legislation will bring 30 million Americans into a health-care system that includes affordable family-planning services, improved access to contraception, and maternity care. The new federal law begins to equalize the playing field between men and women when it comes to health care. Even before the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the Act, conservative state legislatures were systematically eroding women’s reproductive rights. State lawmakers, still mired in bills that attempt to roll back health care options for women, are now expected to create health care exchanges by the end of 2013. Given the passionate ideology surrounding basic access to health care, states that have been busy revoking the rights of women will be opposed to implementing a law that guarantees women the choice to make their own health care decisions.

In Michigan, a bill threatens to shutter all reproductive health care clinics in the state with new cost-prohibitive measures designed specifically to target abortion providers. In Oklahoma, the legislature ordered doctors to jump through more hoops when prescribing mifepristone, a routine medication for early abortions. In Virginia, a woman will be subjected to costly and medically unnecessary ultrasounds prior to having an abortion — but, Governor Bob McDonnell assures, “she is fully free to decide what she should do.” In Arizona, a bill would have allowed an employer to terminate a female employee if it was determined that she was taking birth control to prevent birth. In Ohio, where a bill would criminalize abortions even in cases of rape and incest, State Representative Lynn Wachtmann dismissed criticism by saying, “Those cases are extremely rare — I know they always point those out.”

Are these policies in the best interests of American women? The same American women who fight on our front lines, raise our children, run our businesses, and comprise over 50% of our nation? We don’t think so.

As state legislators who are standing up against this encroachment on American ideals of independence and personal liberty, we have joined together to refocus the discussion on the most important factor: how these policies harm women.

With combined legislative experience of over 50 years, we are appalled by the intensity and efficacy of this regressive policy agenda. In response, we have each introduced provisions that would lend parity to the myopic discussion of women’s health by recognizing the opposite sex. Our policies would simply extend the same protections afforded to women to all those who carry within them the sacred capacity for human reproduction. The bills and amendments we have introduced would, among other things, protect life in its most basic form: sperm; ensure that men fully understand the potential risks of erectile dysfunction medication; and make certain that permanent surgical procedures to impair a man’s essential reproductive function are mutually agreed to by him and his life partner.

The independent introduction of these provisions demonstrates that limitations and burdens placed on a woman’s right to high quality health care options are a manifestation of inequality and a vestige of a more oppressive past. Seeking parity to the male-female dynamic, however, is not limited to reproductive health.

Economic equity is equally imperative in the 21st century. A woman who does the same job with the same skill and productivity as her male colleague reaps a salary of, on average, 23% less. Yet, few states have penalties for employers who engage in this discriminatory practice. The U.S. Senate’s rejection of the Paycheck Fairness Act earlier this month demonstrates that achieving economic equity is not a bipartisan priority.

As women, and as men who love and respect women, we must ask ourselves: Whom do these policies support? They certainly do not support the majority of men and women who want full coverage for birth control, or the one in five women who have visited a Planned Parenthood clinic. This is a vocal minority that is gaining mainstream policy-making power, from Congress to County Council.

Each of us ran for office because of a desire to solve problems in our communities. Unfortunately, women comprise only 24% of State Representatives and 21% of State Senators. Considering this minority, it is no surprise that women’s voices are routinely disregarded. The recent silencing of Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown as she attempted to speak on her amendment to a women’s reproductive health bill in the chamber to which she was freely elected is an example of flagrant disrespect for the voice of women in politics.

The policies state legislatures are generating not only disregard us, they harm us. In order for women to understand what is at stake, we must get beyond politics. Real women are severely impacted by these policy decisions every day. Lives are changed, hopes halted, and dreams dashed. We are living proof that when women see problems, they stand up to solve them.