We all know what it is like to have that neighbor. You know, that one that does the weirdest things, who keeps things totally meticulous or untamed, the one that has odd company over at all hours of the night, or perhaps the one that never leaves his house.

Or maybe your neighbor is always dropping off religious pamphlets and pocket-sized New Testaments. Leaving you with the uncomfortable feeling that they are watching you all the time, judging you, and making a statement by pointing their “Mary in a bathtub” in your direction to stare you down.

Either way, whatever neighbor you have, it has the potential to ruin the quality of your neighborhood, especially when said neighbor is unconcerned and unwilling to compromise. It is for this reason that neighborliness is a love-hate relationship. It bounces between genuine friendship, strained polite pleasantries, and downright resentment.  Which conveniently brings us to North Dakota.

As strange as it seems, our nearest neighbor to the west has been soaking up the limelight these past couple months. Unfortunately for our near and dear (and sometimes infuriating) North Dakota, the sudden spotlight reveals something none too flattering. Socially, economically, and now even legislatively North Dakota has been catapulted into the top five worst states for women to live. And if you’ve been keeping up with the latest news, it’s no wonder.

Now as far as neighbors go, North Dakota is generally a quiet, private sort of neighbor, one that we love for it’s compassion, work ethic, and moral stability.

North Dakota may be exhibiting behavior we have yet to observe or expect from the humble, timid state: an unanticipated hostility toward women.

There is some seriously disturbing legislation that is projected to pass during the November elections. The most harmful of these is Measure 1, or the “Personhood amendment,” as it is being called by the media, which is expected to pass in North Dakota and subsequently make history as the first law of its kind to exist in the United States.

The vaguely worded amendment would protect life at all stages of development, but without any real guidelines and strictures on what “protection” entails, who should do it, and how. This was obviously written without any forethought for those it would harm most (i.e. everyone).

This measure is not just about delegalizing abortions, which seems to be the only part of the measure getting any attention from voters. It is about so much more, and affects men, women, children, and family life.

Measure 1 will prevent couples from having fertility treatments, or from undergoing in vitro fertilization, essentially taking away one of the most significant options for families who cannot conceive themselves.

It will mean potentially fatal harm to women whose pregnancies go wrong at any stage of gestation. It will mean that doctors will not be able to help patients who have ectopic pregnancies (when the embryo becomes attached to the fallopian tube, or uterine lining), which will likely end in the miscarriage of the embryo and the possible sterilization, or even death of the mother. If doctors intervene in such a situation, they could be fired, investigated, and charged by a court of law.

It means that all and any miscarriage will also be open for investigation, and could possibly end in legal repercussions for the mother’s OB/GYN or even for the mother herself. As a result, doctors and nurses all over the Fargo area will loose their jobs, as fertility clinics will close effective immediately after Measure 1 is passed.

It means that North Dakota healthcare will change and drop all of their services related to any of these health concerns, and will even affect insurance holders who move out of state and still use North Dakota insurance.

It means that anyone with special post-death instructions, even legally written in their living will, could be investigated, questioned, and revoked by the court of law. It could interfere with those on life support, forcing doctors and family members to keep a patient alive, even if it is against his or her own wishes.

This is not just bad for women. Any man who wants, has, or cares for his family and himself will be affected by this measure. The health and safety of mother and child will both be in critical danger as hospitals will no longer be able to take appropriate action if one or the other’s condition becomes critical. Even more generally, putting aside any women’s issues, hospitals universally will become less trust-worthy, less efficient, and more liable if anyone, of any gender, of any stage of life becomes fatally sick or injured. If someone dies on the operating table, doctors could still be at fault under Measure 1.

“Measure 1 will prevent couples from having fertility treatments, or in vitro fertilization, taking away one of the most significant options for families who cannot conceive themselves.”

The politically, economically, and socially hostile environment is lethal for everyone in North Dakota, Minnesota, for the Midwestern neighbors, and all the people in the country. It puts everyone’s health and safety at risk with its vagueness. It promotes the ideology of gender roles, and influences the minds of the people who trust their lawmakers, teachers, and employers to act on their benefit, who expect them to fight for them, not against them. It is very sad to see the toxicity of all of these issues hitting our country where it is extremely vulnerable.

If this happens in North Dakota, it will cast a negative reflection on the whole Midwestern neighborhood. It will become an unwanted precedent. And that is a fact that, like a bad neighbor, is just too close for comfort.

-Ashley Nickel