22 Jan Reasons Why We Must #ReclaimRoe
On the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded of what life was like for women before safe and legal abortion–and what could again become a reality for many women across the country. Here are the reasons why we must #ReclaimRoe.
By: Elisa Cafferata
- For more than forty years, the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that under Roe v. Wade decision, the constitution protects every woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions about abortion. Yet politicians around the country and even in Nevada have made it clear they will stop at nothing to end access to safe, legal abortion.
- New data released from the Guttmacher Institute shows that politicians at the state level enacted 288 restrictions on safe, legal abortion since 2010 dramatically reshaping the landscape for women seeking an abortion.
- In 2000, 31 percent of women of reproductive age lived in a state hostile to abortion rights. By 2014, 57 percent of women lived in a state that is either hostile or extremely hostile to abortion rights, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
- In Nevada, voters passed the Freedom of Choice initiative in 1990 which protects women’s right to choose even if the Supreme Court overturns Roe. That didn’t stop a small group of elected officials from trying to pass a forced parental notification bill in the last legislative session. We were fighting AB 405 right until the last moments of the session. You can find out how your legislator voted on this and other restrictive bills in our legislative scorecard.
- In March, the U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing the biggest abortion case in decades, and the stakes for women’s access to safe, legal abortion are higher than ever.
- If the Supreme Court upholds the clinic shut down law from Texas, it would essentially take many women back to a time before abortion was legal.
- This cannot be what it means to be a woman living in 21st century America. Do we really want to be a country in which you have access to safe, legal abortion only if they are lucky enough to live in the right city?
- A woman’s right to make personal medical decisions about abortion shouldn’t depend on where she lives.
- As a health care provider, Planned Parenthood has seen the devastating consequences for women when politicians restrict access to safe, legal abortion.
- As a health care provider, Planned Parenthood has seen the devastating consequences for women in states like Texas where politicians have already restricted access. Women are traveling hundreds of miles, crossing state lines, and waiting weeks to get an abortion, if they can at all.
- In fact, researchers estimate that between 100,000 to 240,000 Texas women have tried to end a pregnancy on their own without medical assistance (read more here and here).
- Most people thought we were well past the days of women taking matters into their own hands, but laws that make it impossible to get safe and legal abortion are taking us backwards. These desperate measures will only become more commonplace if the Supreme Court upholds the clinic shutdown law.
- We’re seeing a whole new generation of activists getting engaged because of these political attacks on access to abortion. Women, men and young people whose very health and well-being is at stake.
- We’ve seen an outpouring of support from so many people–Republicans and Democrats–who believe politicians have gone too far when it comes to blocking access to care and interfering in personal medical decision.
- Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans support access to safe and legal abortion.
- A recent Bloomberg Politics national poll found that 67% of Americans surveyed said Supreme Court was right to rule that women have a constitutional right to abortion and agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.
- A VOX/PerryUndem poll found that more Americans consider themselves pro-choice than pro-life.
- Sixty-eight percent of Millennials don’t want to see Roe overturned and 72 percent of Republicans think abortion should be available.
- 64%of voters younger than 30 said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with 58% of voters 30 and older. [Pew Research Center, 11/26/12]
- Planned Parenthood will continue to fight for every woman’s right to make her own personal decisions about pregnancy, without political interference.
- Abortion is a deeply personal and sometimes complex decision for a woman, and you can’t make that decision for someone else.
- Decisions about whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child must be left to a woman, her family, and her faith, with the counsel of her doctor or healthcare provider.
- It is important that abortion remain a safe and legal medical procedure for a woman to consider, if and when she needs it.
- The bottom line is that a woman, not politicians, should make the informed decisions when it comes to her own pregnancy.
Ready to join us? Join “I Vote PP Action” and stand up for reproductive justice! We need you!