Republican States Abolish Reproductive Rights
Republican Legislatures Have passed Over-The-Top Laws That Abolish Women’s Privacy & Their Reproductive Rights
The reproductive rights of Red State women has been abolished along with medical confidentiality rights. Laws are being passed in some jurisdictions that attempt to codify false readings of scripture and that makes this a religious liberty issue as well. Not all sects of Christianity believe that life begins at conception or any other point until birth. (GEN 2:7)
Here we go…
First Up It’s
In just a minute, I am going to ask you to make a donation to organizations that help low-income women pay for reproductive healthcare. Let me first explain why.
Late last night, the Alabama legislature passed a bill that would outlaw 99% of abortions.
No exemptions for rape or incest. No rights for women who don’t want to be pregnant. Doctors who perform abortions could be imprisoned for 99 years. Then Georgia passed its own bill last week that would ban abortions after six weeks — before most women know they’re pregnant. Last month Ohio signed its own version into law. And Mississippi passed its own abortion ban the month before that.
Politicians should not be getting in the way of a woman and her medical decisions. These are difficult family decisions that governments should not interfere with. These bills and laws are outrageous assaults on women’s rights that have a singular goal: forcing the Supreme Court to take up a case that would overturn Roe v. Wade.
One of the most powerful actions that we can take in response to these bans is to fund local groups that help provide access to clinics for low-income women. These are organizations on the front lines of abortion rights making sure that women who need an abortion can afford to pay for one.
That’s why I’m asking you today:
These groups provide direct service to women who need abortions but can’t afford the medical costs, transportation, or lodging required to actually get the abortion, due to the burdensome restrictions put in place by bills like this. They are always in need of additional funding, doing the critical work of caring for women who are in desperate need of help.
These are the groups we are asking you to support today: CONTRIBUTE
Yellowhammer Fund is a group in Alabama that provides funding for medical costs, transportation, and lodging for women who get abortions at any of Alabama’s three abortion clinics. Fifty-nine percent of women in Alabama don’t have an abortion clinic in their county, and Yellowhammer Fund does all it can to make sure Alabama women are able to get the abortions they need.
Access Reproductive Care-Southeast is a group that provides financial and logistical support for women and their families who want abortions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. They help women plan for their abortions, and help cover the costs associated with accessing this medical care.
The National Network of Abortion Funds is an umbrella organization for local abortion groups throughout the United States — groups like Yellowhammer and Access Reproductive Care-Southeast. They connect people with their local funds, and provide support to the groups themselves.
When fundamental human and constitutional rights are under attack, we must respond and do the most good that we can. That starts with helping low-income women get support for the abortions they need. Please donate to these abortion support networks today.
Thank you for standing with women and for abortion rights.
In solidarity,
Team Bernie
Next Up…
This is Ashley Judd. I am an actor and activist, and I come from a long line of feisty women who care deeply about their communities.
Add your name to tell the Supreme Court to protect Roe v. Wade.
As you know, our bodily autonomy and right to dignity have been under siege by laws recently passed in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Ohio. These laws severely limit access to abortion and expand state control over pregnant people’s bodies—our bodies. Clearly, these state-level laws are part of an aggressive and coordinated war on Roe v. Wade and our right to make private decisions about the most personal aspects of our reproductive lives.
That’s why I’m asking you to sign this petition urging the Supreme Court to protect our bodily autonomy and human rights. The petition was created by the Yellowhammer Fund, a critical organization in Alabama that helps folks access safe abortions.
People seeking abortion services have long faced complex barriers to receiving the care they need and deserve. The legislation passed in Alabama is the most extreme of the new laws because of its criminalization doctors and pregnant people!
This is unacceptable. We won’t go back to a time when, for pregnant people, unsafe abortions accounted for at least one in six pregnancy-related deaths.1
Please join me in signing Yellowhammer Fund’s petition telling Chief Justice John G. Roberts and the Supreme Court justices to end these extreme policies which deny families the right to determine whether, when, and how to create a family.
Thanks for all you continue to do.
-Ashley Judd
Source:
1. “As abortion battles intensify in states, misperceptions abound,” The Christian Science Monitor, May 13, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/
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Next Up…
Dear MoveOn member,
At midnight on Saturday, Missouri could become the first state without access to legal abortion since the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973.1
The right-wing crusade to end access to legal abortion in America is moving like wildfire, as red states take increasingly extreme actions. And this battle will likely end up in the Supreme Court, which for the first time in 45 years, now has a majority of justices opposed to safe, legal abortion.
Missouri is poised this week to revoke the license for the last remaining health clinic that provides abortions in the state.2 Last week, Missouri’s governor signed into law a bill banning abortions at eight weeks of pregnancy—and without exceptions in cases of rape or incest.3 It’s terrifying to think what pregnant people in Missouri are going to be put through as early as next week, and what the devastating consequences could be if they are forced into unsafe back alley procedures.
James, if ever there was a time to come together to fight back, it’s now. We have no time to lose because it’s all happening so fast. And we simply cannot turn back the clock 45 years on reproductive liberty and equality.
That’s why MoveOn is launching a big, new campaign to protect safe, legal abortion and save Roe.
Will you help out? Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
Missouri is one of six states with only one abortion clinic remaining.4 For two decades, the right-wing strategy has been to chip away at access to abortion, putting in place onerous and medically unnecessary requirements—from waiting periods to down-to-the-inch dimensions for exam rooms, hallways, and janitor closets.5
But now, with Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, the right-wing strategy has changed to trying to end legal abortion entirely, and the speed at which red states have taken action is breathtaking—from Missouri about to revoke its last clinic’s license to Alabama banning all abortion in the state and Ohio even criminalizing those who leave the state to access abortion where it is still legal.
No longer do conservatives want to chip away at abortion rights; now, they are threatening to end access to legal abortion everywhere they can.
This is not a drill. It’s a fight for our lives and equality. And we all need to be a part of this fight. That’s why MoveOn is launching a big, new campaign to bring our grassroots firepower, media bullhorn, and tech chops to the fight to preserve safe, legal abortion.
Here are just some of the ideas we are considering as next steps in this critical, life-or-death fight:
- Putting pressure on John Roberts, the Supreme Court swing vote, to ensure he does not vote to uphold these bans. Research has shown that Roberts responds to public pressure and is concerned about the court’s public image, which means that a pressure campaign could work to swing his vote when these bans eventually make their way to the Supreme Court.
- Electoralizing the issue. Again, 79% of Americans believe that abortion should be safe and legal—a huge majority that will be galvanized to vote against the Republicans who have pushed these bans in states across the country and have opened the door for the end of Roe. And we must make sure that all Democratic candidates make choice and reproductive justice central to their campaigns.
- Demanding accountability from corporations. Many massive, multinational corporations have given campaign contributions to the state legislators waging this war on abortion access. By raising public demand for the corporations to immediately cease their giving, we can land a major blow to these politicians.
- Fighting in the states. Currently, only 10 states have laws on the books that will protect abortion access if Roe is overturned.6 We need to push more state legislatures to pass laws protecting abortion access now, and we must fight to stop any additional bans working their way through state governments. Additionally, we must push to elect pro-choice state legislators in this year’s elections to add additional safeguards to abortion access at the state level.
Will you chip in $3 to help out?
With your help, we will continue working with partners to fight back in the states and in Washington, D.C., continue directing resources to groups on the ground that are providing abortions in impacted states, and use our reach to lift up the stories of those impacted by these draconian laws.
Thanks for all you do.
–Emma, Chris, Robert, Anna, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. “Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic Could Stop Providing the Procedure This Week,” The New York Times, May 28, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/
2. Ibid.
3. “Missouri Governor Signs Ban On Abortion After 8 Weeks Of Pregnancy,” NPR, May 24, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/
4. “These 6 states have only 1 abortion clinic left. Missouri could become the first with zero,” CNN, May 29, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/
5. “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers,” Guttmacher Institute, May 1, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/
6. “Abortion Policy in the Absence of Roe,” Guttmacher Institute, May 21, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/