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Families will seek hope during presidential debate in Atlanta

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Britney Whaley, Southeast Regional Director, Working Families Party

Credit: Handout

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Credit: Handout

Since 2008, nine Georgia hospitals have closed their doors. As of April, 18 of 30 critical access hospitals in rural Georgia were at risk of closing. This puts the health of millions of Georgians at risk and reduces access to emergency care and regular health checkups, which could prevent future emergencies.

When Wellstar’s Atlanta Medical Center closed in November 2022, it left a gaping hole in health care for millions of people in metro Atlanta. It took away access to physical and mental health care in the heart of Atlanta. The AMC closure led to an overload of patients at Grady Memorial Hospital, the city’s only Level 1 trauma center. While this is the largest hospital closure in metro Atlanta, it is not the only one. Wellstar also closed or relocated 15 other medical facilities.

Affordable housing

Across Atlanta, we are seeing an increase in the number of companies purchasing single-family homes and entire subdivisions. These companies view our neighborhoods, like Vine City and the West End, not as places where families can live and thrive, but as lucrative assets to generate profits near downtown offices. This aggressive acquisition strategy not only drives up housing prices, but also limits the availability of affordable housing options for residents.

First-time home buyers who have been working and saving their hard-earned wages for years are routinely outbid by these companies who can easily match and exceed the offers of a worker with seemingly unlimited coffers. More corporate-owned residential housing leads to less community. Additionally, when companies spend everything they can to buy these homes, it leads to artificial inflation of housing prices in the area.

Companies can set the rent in the area, taking into account those who already live in the neighborhood. This increases the rent in the area. This promotes the displacement of working families, and we should have policy solutions that allow working families to rent and stay in their homes.

This is something that doesn’t happen in wealthy neighborhoods. This is only where the most vulnerable residents live, primarily in neighborhoods that are historically black and working-class communities, as well as in suburban counties like Cobb and Gwinnett. The companies primarily target homes worth less than $500,000. They target affordable housing.

Protecting access to abortion and reproductive justice for women

In Georgia and many other Southern states, women face significant barriers to accessing abortion services. From mandatory waiting periods to restrictive clinic regulations, these barriers disproportionately affect low-income families, people of color, and young people. These laws do not protect women; instead, they put abortion care out of reach and force some people to resort to dangerous and desperate measures, forcing them to make heartbreaking and life-threatening decisions and risk their lives to respect unjust and unjust laws. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals must choose between swearing an oath to treat sick patients or risk prison.

This question transcends politics. These are fundamental human rights. It’s about bodily autonomy, economic justice, and the right to make decisions about our bodies and our futures.

Our president must commit to protecting and expanding access to abortion care. He must commit to appointing federal judges who respect precedent and defend reproductive rights. The federal judiciary plays a critical role in interpreting and safeguarding our constitutional rights, including the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. The next president will likely have the opportunity to appoint justices to the Supreme Court, making judicial appointments a central issue for reproductive justice.

As we watch the upcoming presidential debate, let us remain vigilant and demand that our concerns are not only recognized but addressed with concrete policies and actions. Our votes matter, as does our collective voice for the change we need. We must hold elected officials accountable and push for policies focused on justice, equity, and inclusion for all underrepresented communities.

Britney Whaley is the Southeast regional director of the Working Families Party.

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