‘Abortion Access as We Know It Is What Is on the Line’: Upending Roe Was Only the Beginning
Attacks on reproductive rights continue despite majorities supporting abortion
Last year's stunning Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v Wade and upend half a century of guaranteed abortion access was only the beginning — not the end — of what has become a sustained attack on reproductive rights in the United States.
That attack most recently has taken the form of a federal judge in Texas, appointed by Donald Trump, whose decision earlier this month would ban the medication mifepristone, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use for abortions more than 20 years ago.
The nation's high court is allowing the drug to remain available, at least while appeals of the Texas judge's ruling play out.
"I mean, abortion access as we know it is what is on the line. It’s really scary that we have one judge who can make a decision and unilaterally un-approve a medication that’s been on the market and that was approved by the Food and Drug Administration 23 years ago,” said abortion rights advocate Renee Bracey Sherman.
Despite the favorable ruling by the Supreme Court to maintain availability of mifepristone, that availability could be only temporary, noted Rep Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash).
“That’s why you see Democratic governors starting to stockpile these drugs,” she said.
Meanwhile, Florida's Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, just signed into law a ban on abortions in his state after just six weeks of pregnancy.
“This is hardly the end of our fight to protect a woman’s healthcare and a woman’s right to choose. Make no mistake about it: The hard right, anti-choice MAGA wing in this country will keep working and working and working to take away all women's rights,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). “But we fill fight it and fight it and fight it.”
Those on the right continue to curtail abortion rights despite the fact that such rights are supported by majorities of the American people.
Florida state Rep Robin Bartleman, a Democrat from Weston, Fla., noted that DeSantis — a potential contender for the Republican presidential nomination — signed the ban late at night and only tweeted out that he had signed it.
“Well, I think the telltale sign is the governor signed this bill at night,” Bartleman said. “When he signs his bills, he likes to have press all around him. He likes to make sure everyone is paying attention. News conferences at noon during the highlight times.
“And he signed it in the dead of night, because we know Floridians do not want this bill. We know this bill is bad for women. It’s bad for families,” she added. “Look, I had a very much wanted pregnancy. I went through infertility to get pregnant, because I wanted that baby. And I was told it had a fatal fetal abnormality. I had to make a decision. You know what? It was the worst decision ever had to make in my life. I had legal paths. Do I go through the pregnancy? Why not go through with the pregnancy? I prayed every single day.
“But DeSantis, the Florida legislature, they do not belong in that room with me. They didn’t have a spot on tha legal path, and now, they have inserted themselves into every exam room, into every house, into every family’s personal business,” she said.
Bartleman noted that many of those making these policy choices against abortion rights are those who can't even ever get pregnant themselves.
“No one has a right to make tha decision for them. And as you saw on the floor, the majority of people who debated were Republican men. They don’t even have uteruses! They’re telling us what to do with our bodies,” she said. “Even now, I get so emotional because my daughters are waking up in the state of Florida with fewer rights then when the were born. So, I need the women of Florida — the Republican women independent women, the Democratic women — to wake up,” she added.
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