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planned parenthood
Highlighting Election Stakes, Top Georgia Court Revives 6-Week Abortion Ban
"We don't have to guess what another Trump presidency will bring, Georgians and millions more are living it."
Oct 07, 2024
Just a week after Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney struck down Georgia's six-week abortion ban with an "absolutely epic ruling," the state Supreme Court on Monday reinstated House Bill 481, demonstrating what's at stake in next month's U.S. elections.
In a 6-1 decision, the Georgia Supreme Court granted a stay sought by Republican state Attorney General Christopher Carr. The so-called Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act took effect again at 5:00 pm on Monday. The high court left in place the judge's decision to block prosecutors' broad access to abortion patients' medical records as the case proceeds.
"It is cruel that our patients' ability to access the reproductive healthcare they need has been taken away yet again," said Kwajelyn Jackson, executive director of Feminist Women's Health Center, in a Monday statement. "Once again, we are being forced to turn away those in need of abortion care beyond six weeks of pregnancy and deny them care that we are fully capable of providing to change their lives."
"This ban has wreaked havoc on Georgians' lives, and our patients deserve better," she continued. "The state of Georgia has chosen to subject our community to those devastating harms once again, even in light of the deadly consequences we have already witnessed. We will keep fighting to protect our patients, their health, their rights, and their dignity—in the clinic, in the Capitol, in the courts, and in the community."
The state and national ACLU, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Georgia-based law firms have challenged H.B. 481 on behalf of Jackson's group as well as multiple providers and organizations including Planned Parenthood Southeast and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective.
"Today's ruling is an egregious example of how far anti-abortion lawmakers and judges will go to strip Georgians of their fundamental rights," stressed Jaylen Black, vice president of communications and marketing of Planned Parenthood Southeast. "As our state and region have been battered by Hurricane Helene and chemically polluted air quality, they're focused on causing more harm rather than prioritizing time-sensitive recovery efforts. At every turn, they choose to put their own agendas above our health and well-being."
The Georgia law—which prohibits abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, which is before many people even know they are pregnant—is one of several strict bans that have been enacted or allowed to take effect since the U.S. Supreme Court's right-wing majority reversedRoe v. Wade in June 2022.
Reproductive freedom has been a key topic of the 2024 election cycle, at all levels of politics, including and especially the presidential contest. Former Republican President Donald Trump has bragged about appointing half the justices who overturned Roe but also unsuccessfully tried to distance himself from the most extreme abortion bans.
Meanwhile, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly stressed her support for reproductive freedom and attacked her opponent for his role in rolling it back, including in a speech in Georgia last month and a Sunday appearance on Call Her Daddy, a podcast whose primary audience is younger American women.
During Harris' September speech, she paid tribute to Georgia women whose deaths health experts have said were "preventable" and the result of the state's six-week abortion ban. Critics of the high court's new ruling also pointed to their deaths.
"Today, the Georgia Supreme Court sided with anti-abortion extremists. Every minute this harmful six-week abortion ban is in place, Georgians suffer," asserted SisterSong executive director Monica Simpson. "Denying our community members the lifesaving care they deserve jeopardizes their lives, safety, and health—all for the sake of power and control over our bodies. This decision is unconscionable, especially after the loss of Amber Nicole Thurman and Candi Miller, two Black women who would be here today had this ban not been in place."
"This ban is rooted in white supremacy and intensifies an already dire situation in Georgia, where Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy complications compared to white women, largely due to the absence of Medicaid expansion, a shortage of OB-GYNs, and a healthcare system rife with inequities since its founding," she continued. "Despite all evidence that this ban is killing us, the court sided with those more interested in limiting our access to care than seeing us live and thrive."
Simpson declared that "now, we need everyone to turn their pain into action and vote with these issues in mind this November."
Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, also responded to the Georgia high court's ruling by emphasizing the importance of electing Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, next month.
"Amber Thurman and Candi Miller died because of this abortion ban," she
said on social media. "We fight back in their memory and the countless other women across the country who have their freedoms at risk. 29 days until we elect repro champions to fix this mess starting with VP Harris and Gov. Walz."
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Missouri Supreme Court Restores Abortion Rights Ballot Initiative
"Anti-abortion opponents are trying everything to keep abortion rights questions away from voters—but their dirty tricks keep failing," said one campaigner.
Sep 10, 2024
Reproductive freedom defenders on Tuesday cheered the Missouri Supreme Court's restoration of an abortion rights referendum—one of numerous 2024 ballot initiatives seeking to codify access to the healthcare procedure in states from coast to coast.
Missouri's highest court overturned Cole County Judge Christopher Limbaugh's ruling removing Amendment 3—also known as the Right to Reproductive Freedom initiative—from the November 5 ballot. Limbaugh ordered Republican Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who decertified the measure on Monday, to place it back on the ballot.
“The majority of Missourians want politicians out of their exam rooms, and today's decision by the Missouri Supreme Court keeps those politicians out of the voting booth as well," Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action vice president of external affairs Margot Riphagen
said on social media. "On November 5, Missouri voters will declare their right to reproductive freedom, ensuring decisions about our bodies and our healthcare—including abortion—stay between us, our families, and our providers."
Kelly Hall, executive director of the Fairness Project—which provides funding and technical assistance to abortion rights campaigns in Missouri, Arizona, Montana, and Florida—said in a statement that "anti-abortion opponents are trying everything to keep abortion rights questions away from voters—but their dirty tricks keep failing. They know that when voters have a say, reproductive freedom is upheld time and time again."
Chris Hatfield, a lawyer representing abortion rights groups in the case, toldThe New York Times: "This is a big deal. The court will send a message today about whether, in our little corner of the democracy, the government will honor the will of the people, or will have it snatched away."
Missouri has one of the nation's most draconian abortion bans, with the procedure
prohibited in almost all circumstances "except in cases of medical emergency." The ban—which dates to 2019—took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturnedRoe v. Wade in 2022.
The Midwestern state joins
at least seven others in which abortion will be on the ballot this November. Every abortion rights ballot measure since the overturn of Roe has passed.
In neighboring Nebraska, the state Supreme Court on Monday
heard arguments in three lawsuits filed by activists trying to keep multiple abortion rights referenda off the ballot.
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Abortion Rights Advocates Celebrate Walz Choice and Look Beyond Roe Restoration
"The stakes of this election could not be higher, the contrast between the two tickets could not be clearer, and the state of sexual and reproductive healthcare in this country could not be more dire," an expert said.
Aug 06, 2024
Two rights groups on Tuesday celebrated Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' choice of running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, calling it the most pro-reproductive freedom ticket in history, while two other groups called on Democratic leaders to act boldly to establish new federal abortion protections.
Both Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) and Reproductive Freedom for All (RFA) applauded Walz's pro-choice record and called him a "champion" of reproductive rights.
The ACLU and Physicians for Reproductive Health (PRH) called for bolder action to secure abortion rights, with the ACLU pushing for a number of federal reforms, and PRH urging more fundamental protections for abortion and gender-affirming care that go beyond the standards once set by Roe v. Wade.
"Unfortunately, Roe v. Wade was never enough to ensure our communities obtained the care they needed," Dr. Jamila Perritt, PRH's president, said in a statement. "It was, in fact, barely a starting point."
BREAKING: This morning, we sent a letter to the White House asking for immediate action to center the needs of people who have abortions and gender affirming care. It was signed by 430 of our closest friends. Read the letter here: https://t.co/luoyTPaehv
— Physicians for Reproductive Health (@prhdocs) August 6, 2024
Walz, who served in U.S. Congress for 12 years before becoming governor of Minnesota at the start of 2019, has a sterling pro-choice record on abortion. He earned a consistent 100% on RFA's congressional report card during his time as a congressman, and signed a pair of key state bills into law as governor.
The first, signed in January 2023, strengthened and codified abortion protections, even as neighboring states restricted abortion rights, turning Minnesota into "the Midwest's abortion access center." The second, passed three months later, sought to shield people who seek or provide abortions or gender-affirming care from legal action by conservative states.
Both bills narrowly passed the Minnesota state Legislature, where Democrats have had a slight majority since the 2022 election and used it to push through a wide array of progressive laws. These included expanded funding for birth control access, family planning services, and Medicaid reimbursements.
Walz was by Harris' side when she became the first vice president to visit an abortion provider in March, at a Planned Parenthood in St. Paul. Reproductive rights advocates generally regard Harris as stronger on the issue than President Joe Biden, who is Catholic and has struggled to say the word "abortion" publicly, though his administration has pushed pro-choice policy.
"The Biden-Harris administration did more for reproductive freedom than any other, and a Harris-Walz administration is poised to build on that legacy," RFA president Mini Timmaraju said in a statement.
Biden and Harris have emphasized the need to restore Roe, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 1973 that established a federal right to abortion up to roughly 24 weeks for the next five decades, before it was reversed by the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling.
However, PRH on Tuesday sent Biden and Harris an open letter, signed by 430 healthcare providers, that called for them to be bolder, citing the limitations of the Roe framework:
While Roe provided a constitutional right to abortion, it never ensured access to that right for all those who needed it. The promise of Roe, the legal right to abortion care, was never fulfilled. This is especially true for communities facing the most barriers to care. When abortion care is treated as anything other than basic, essential healthcare and is so willingly stigmatized by supporters and nonsupporters alike, ensuring true access to our communities is not possible. We urge the administration and lawmakers across the country to broaden their efforts, moving beyond Roe's framework, and talk about the future our patients deserve boldly and bravely. We ask you to champion policy solutions that are not premised on returning us to the narrow protections Roe created.
The ACLU warned of the erosion of reproductive rights following Dobbs, which left states to determine abortion policy; 14 Republican-controlled states have since banned abortion altogether, while eight others have passed bans on abortions at 18 weeks of gestation or less. In a statement, the nonprofit human rights group praised Harris for her pledge to restore reproductive freedom and vowed to hold her accountable.
The ACLU's "roadmap" for Harris includes overturning the Hyde amendment, which restricts Medicaid coverage for abortion and "has forced 1 in 4 low-income women seeking an abortions to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term," the ACLU said. The group also calls for increased federal funding for Title X, which helps low-income people secure healthcare services, a federal push to ensure that all hospitals that receive Medicare funding provide emergency stabilizing treatment, including abortion.
Amnesty International on Monday issued a detailed report on the negative impact of the abortion bans and restrictions in Republican-led states, saying they "cause extensive harm" and "violate human rights."
Reproductive rights advocates warn that much worse is to come if Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump wins back the White House in November. Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint written by people affiliated with Trump, proposes "mobilizing an array of government agencies to curb access to abortion," The Guardianreported Monday.
PPAF implicitly nodded to the threat Republicans pose in making the case for the Democratic ticket in its statement on Tuesday.
"The stakes of this election could not be higher, the contrast between the two tickets could not be clearer, and the state of sexual and reproductive healthcare in this country could not be more dire," said Alexis McGill Johnson, PPAF's president. "Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are the only people we can trust to ensure that everyone has the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies."
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