Last year, Granite State women watched with great anxiety as, all over the country, one Republican-led state after another implemented new draconian laws limiting women’s access to the reproductive care they need. As the Concord Monitor reported in May, “It seemed to unfold at once: in Georgia, with a fetal heartbeat bill; in Missouri, with an eight-week restriction; and in Alabama, with a near total ban.”

For now, courts have blocked these efforts, on the basis that they’re unconstitutional and go against the precedent set in Roe v. Wade.

But we’re not in the clear. Women across New Hampshire know that it’s not a matter of if, but when, one of these unpopular, dangerous laws makes its way up to Donald Trump’s Supreme Court and the Court allows it to remain intact, causing a sea change in reproductive rights for all Americans.

In our own New Hampshire state Legislature, there are currently four bills pending to restrict abortion rights. These include HB 1475, a “heartbeat bill” designed to restrict a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. Though the bill stands no chance of making its way through our Democratic-majority State House and Senate, it should give us pause that these extreme proposals have landed on our doorstep here in New Hampshire.

We urgently need leadership at the top who will codify into law Roe v. Wade and ensure that a woman’s right to choose remains intact. And we need a leader with a proven track record of fighting for women and advocating for their right to make their own health care decisions, especially when it involves a woman’s right to choose if and when she will have children. And we need a leader who will protect the rights of the LGBTQ community and other vulnerable populations when it comes to access to health care.

We know that leader is Joe Biden.

For starters, Biden has promised that as president he will immediately work to codify Roe v. Wade into law – which, when accomplished, will greatly help put American women’s minds at ease. And he will only appoint judges who promise to respect judicial precedents. Ensuring a judge respects judicial precedent isn’t something that should be up for debate, but with Donald Trump stacking the courts with handpicked judges like Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, it’s unfortunately become a reality of the task at hand for our next president.

As president, Biden will also restore federal funding to Planned Parenthood – which, beyond providing quality reproductive care to women, is a critical resource for LGBTQ people and other vulnerable populations who often live in communities that don’t have easy access to adequate sexual health care. Planned Parenthood also is a key provider of preventative health care for men, women, and people of all gender identities, including STI and HIV testing. When facilities like Planned Parenthood don’t get the resources they need, we often see spikes in dangerous, unregulated abortions and more widespread infection rates.

Biden also will repeal the Hyde Amendment, which he acknowledged cannot exist when entire populations are no longer able to access health care or exercise their constitutional rights due to their income or zip code.

It’s not tough to see how former Vice President Biden will make women’s issues a priority in his Administration: he’s been doing it for decades. He wrote and passed the Violence Against Women Act, landmark legislation that caused a cultural shift in the country and led to a dramatic reduction in cases of domestic violence. He spearheaded the “It’s On Us” campaign to combat sexual assault on our college campuses.

And, of course, Biden knows that “women’s issues” don’t exist in a vacuum – and that they are often tangled together with other key priorities. For example, as President, he has promised to close the “boyfriend loophole,” a nonsensical provision championed by the NRA and upheld by Senate Republicans that allows domestic abusers to keep their weapons so long as they’re not married to their victim and partner.

Similarly, having passed the Affordable Care Act and released a detailed plan to protect and expand on it with a public option, Biden will make health care, including reproductive and mental health, accessible and affordable to all Americans.

Joe Biden understands the danger of a country in which Republican-led efforts block women’s access to doctors: a country where there are far more risky, potentially life-threatening procedures, and class- and location-based disparities where wealthy women have access to the care they need and other women don’t.

On an entire slate of issues, including reproductive health care, we need Vice President Joe Biden’s expertise, experience, and moral clarity to achieve meaningful progress: We can’t afford to return to the unsafe days of the past – or continue down the dangerous path of the present.

Martha Fuller Clark is a state senator from Portsmouth and Bette Lasky is a former state senator from Nashua.

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