Lynne Dodson on:

As a woman and a mother, I believe all people have the right to the information and means to decide freely and responsibly whether and when to have children.

I also believe that all women deserve access to all reproductive health care options and that decisions about childbearing should be made by a woman, in consultation with her family, her doctor and her conscience, not by government or politicians.

As a member of the state legislature, I will work for reproductive justice, and against laws that limit a woman's right to control her own body. I support policies and programs that honor the pro-woman and pro-family goals and ideals put forth by the choice community. Those goals and ideas include:

• Adequate funding for family planning and prevention programs: The best way to prevent unintended pregnancies is to make sure that women, couples and teens have information about and access to birth control; family planning programs are cost-effective.

• Medically accurate, age appropriate sex education programs: Teens should have access to medically accurate, age appropriate information and education about both abstinence and birth control; politicians and government should not deny teens the comprehensive education that they need to protect themselves.

• Contraceptive equity: Insurance companies should cover contraception, especially when they already cover men's insurance needs including Viagra; Washington State should continue this requirement.

• Access to emergency contraception: Basic medicine and compassion require that all emergency rooms provide access to and information about emergency contraception to rape and incest survivors; all women should have access to emergency contraception.

• Continued access to safe and legal abortions for all: The right to safe and legal abortions for all is protected by a constitutional right to privacy.

• The ability to control our own fertility is a fundamental human right.