As the Supreme Court prepares to rule on June Medical Services v. Russo, a case with major implications for abortion care nationwide, I’m reminded of what was happening in my state at this time a year in the state legislature had just passed a near-total abortion ban that would prohibit care before most people know they’re pregnant, and Gov. Brian Kemp signed the ban into law soon after.

And across my state, even without the near-total ban, several restrictions not unlike the Louisiana law the Supreme Court is considering have pushed care out of reach for too many of us.

As a state representative in Georgia, protecting and expanding abortion care has been a high priority through my time in the legislature.

That’s why I and more than 200 other state legislators and local elected officials joined together to sign an open letter, promising to protect abortion care and reproductive freedom in our communities.

Per some estimates, Georgia has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation, in no small part due to the tremendous barriers tied to abortion and other essential reproductive health care in my state.