'Squad' Members Call Out Racist Intent Behind Abortion Bans, Like That In Texas
"Like the roots of the antiabortion movement, these bans are rooted in patriarchy and white supremacy," Rep Pressley says
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo) stole the headlines with her compelling story helped shine a light Thursday on the experience of Black women who seek abortions in the United States.
And two other House Democrats also joined her spotlighting the racist intent behind abortion restrictions, such as the ban in Texas which has been dominating the news recently.
It’s a dimension of abortion restrictions which rarely gets the attention it deserves, but two members of the group of House progressives known as “the Squad” shone a light on the racism behind such abortion restrictions during a hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Bush grabbed headlines with her decision to reveal publicly during the hearing — and tell her story — of getting an abortion at 18.
Bush’s colleagues, Reps Ayanna Pressley, of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, each took turns condemning the matter of race behind the march of state-level abortion restrictions, including the Texas law which aims to ban abortion after about just six weeks.
“Let me make it plain: Abortion care is a constitutional right and this pro-choice Democratic majority House, Senate and White House can and must do everything possible to protect and guarantee it as such,” said Pressley. “We find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented wave of coordinated attacks on our reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.
“And Texas’ horrendous and extreme SB8 abortion ban underscores the urgency of this moment. The year 2021 has been the most devastating for abortion rights in American history,” she added. “In the midst of an ongoing global pandemic that robbed us of more than 690,000 lives and disproportionately impacted our most vulnerable and Black and brown communities, anti-abortion legislators in 47 focused on legislating hurt and harm to push this critical health care out of reach. These misguided bans will not actually prevent all abortions.
“They simply put safe and necessary abortion care out of reach for our most vulnerable, specifically our lowest income sisters, our queer, trans and non-binary siblings, black, LatinX, [Asian-American & Pacific Islander] immigrants, disabled and indigenous indigenous folks. And none of this is happenstance,” Pressley said. “It is precise. Like the roots of the antiabortion movement, these bans are rooted in patriarchy and white supremacy. They perpetuate cycles of poverty and economic inequality and exacerbate many of our starkest health disparities. Enough.”
“Black Lives Matter”
Black Lives Matter should be more than a slogan, according to Tlaib.
"I want you to believe me when I say that to you, because ‘Black Lives Matter' should be very much at the forefront in every policy that we ever do in this country. It can’t just be you carrying a sign or being on a commission,” she said. “It’s actually standing up and saying what we see — because I will tell you something. You know, over 40 percent of the deaths of COVID in my state are my Black neighbors. Even though they make up less than 14 percent of the total population of Michigan.
“Because of environmental racism, because they don’t have access to health care, and you’re all punishing Planned Parenthood, which is literally sometimes the only option that they have, because people are investing in saying, 'This is — this is how we can get access to healthcare,’” Tlaib said. “And I am really just incredibly frustrated of the gaslighting, the misleading and trying to say you’re speaking on behalf of my Black neighbors. You’re not. You’re not.”
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