On a rainy but thankfully relatively cool summer morning in Washington, I joined People for the American Way to deliver more than 52,000 signatures to 11 members of the House, demanding support for the Women’s Health Protection Act.
Anti-abortion politicians are working overtime to eradicate reproductive health care access by imposing medically unnecessary restrictions that shutter clinics, delay and obstruct people’s access to reproductive health care, lower the quality of care, and are meant to shame those seeking abortion care.
Access to reproductive health care is a right supported by decades of legal guarantees. Yet, every day, our rights are being insulted and chipped away by harmful restrictions, creating gross inequities in who can access health care, depending on their zip code.
Congress introduced the Women’s Health Protection Act—legislation that will create a federal safeguard to protect those seeking abortion from outright bans, obstacles, and medically unnecessary restrictions. This takes crucial steps toward protecting access to essential reproductive health care, self-determination, and the constitutional rights of all people, no matter where they live.
Pushing back against these crushing regulations requires a strong response to combat anti-abortion extremists.
In 2019 so far, seven states—Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, Mississippi, and Kentucky—have all passed forms of abortion bans. These attacks create a patchwork of access to abortion care and push care out of reach for already marginalized populations: those living in poverty, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, those who live in rural areas, and young people.