essential element

One of the arguments for retaining the right to abortion was that—as the Supreme Court held in its 1992 Casey decision—women’s ability to control their reproductive lives is an essential element of equality.

It has aligned environmental activists and religious liberty proponents, and has major implications for the nation’s ability to meet its rapidly growing demand for copper, which is an essential element in telecommunications networks, electric vehicles and other growing technologies.

If we give up on the courts, we’re going to take away a really essential element of our ability to be Americans.

They’re an essential element of our democracy—of seeking justice and redress when a real wrong has been done to you, when your civil rights have been violated, when you’ve been a victim of a crime.

Hudson’s keyboard was an essential element of the Band’s sound on roots-rock classics such as ‘The Weight’ and ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.’