Hey Rulers! It’s the end of the week and we’re back with another edition of Women Rule, where your host has returned from a cloudy Southern California to a very hot D.C. Let’s get started: Roe v. Wade enshrined the legal right to abortion nationwide for nearly half a century. Now, we are on the cusp of the two-year anniversary marking the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the rule. So, where are we now? Following the June 24, 2022 decision, there are now abortion bans or restrictions in 21 states. Dozens of independent clinics focused on reproductive care closed in 2023, and over a dozen states now lack abortion access. “I think the thing for me that has been most surprising has been the failure of so many people involved in these bans to understand that reproductive health is not just about abortion,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) tells Women Rule. “It’s also how to ensure that women can have healthy babies — and that they don’t lose that opportunity because of laws like the ones we have in Texas and Alabama and other states.” Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has sponsored numerous pieces of legislation related to reproductive care. She was vocal in her support for the Right to Contraception Act, which fell short of the 60 Senate votes needed to move forward earlier this month. The Right to IVF Act, sponsored by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), also failed in the Senate earlier this month. Since Dobbs, Shaheen says, Republican lawmakers have shifted increasingly to the right on reproductive health issues. “The fact that they’re not willing to vote for legislation that would guarantee those protections for women and families. The fact that they’re not willing to support access to contraception,” Shaheen says. “I remember my mother talking about what it was like before women had access to contraception. I can’t imagine that.” Shaheen signed a bill decriminalizing abortion in New Hampshire during her time as governor, a move that was met with bipartisan support. Now, Shaheen says, one thing needs to happen before any legislation relating to reproductive care is enacted: leadership in the Republican party needs to change. “It is sad to see where we’ve come in such a short amount of time,” Shaheen says. Nancy Northup is the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a global legal advocacy organization seeking to improve reproductive rights. Northup tells Women Rule that Congress needs to fix the problem the Supreme Court created. As an example, she cites the Women’s Health Protection Act, which was introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) in 2021; if enacted, it would protect a person’s ability to get an abortion and a health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services. “They have the power to do it. So I fully expect that will happen,” Northup said. “And if it doesn’t happen in the next Congress it will happen in the future because this is an unacceptable situation to the 70 percent of voters in the United States who support abortion.” As the 2024 election cycle draws closer, reproductive care is front of mind for many Democratic lawmakers. Senate Democrats held a press conference on Tuesday advocating for reproductive rights and condemning Project 2025, a plan detailing conservative policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation. Also known as the Presidential Transition Project, the plan states that “the Dobbs decision is just the beginning. Conservatives in the states and in Washington, including in the next conservative Administration, should push as hard as possible to protect the unborn in every jurisdiction in America.” While Democrats are mourning the end of Roe, Republicans and anti-abortion activists like Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, are celebrating the Dobbs decision — and looking for ways to expand its reach. “Since the Dobbs decision, we have gained major ground in the fight for life,” Dannenfelser tells Women Rule in an emailed statement. “Today, 24 states have laws defending life at 15 weeks or sooner. With an estimated 200,902 unborn children protected annually by pro-life laws, we celebrate the babies who are alive today because of Dobbs.” “This could be the last Dobbs anniversary we celebrate if we don’t win this election. If Joe Biden and the Democrats win, they will nuke the filibuster and pass the WHPA to ban states from having laws protecting unborn children and mandate all-trimester abortion all across the country,” Dannenfelser says. “We must defeat Joe Biden and the Democrats by offering compassionate support to women and unborn children in contrast to the extreme unlimited abortion agenda which only 10 percent of Americans support.” Last week, the Supreme Court maintained access to the abortion pill mifepristone, though the ruling does not codify protections for the drug and could be revisited by future administrations. The court is also set to decide on another abortion-related case, which would determine whether a state can ban abortions if the pregnant person’s health is at risk. The case involves the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, a federal law which guarantees emergency care — including abortions — for patients. “EMTALA is the last shred of federal protections for the right to access abortion care that exists with the reversal of Roe v. Wade,” Northup says. But Northup believes there is hope for reproductive rights moving forward, pointing to successful state ballot measures legalizing abortion. Six weeks after Roe v. Wade was overturned, voters in Kansas voted to block an amendment seeking to ban abortion. Kentucky also blocked an amendment that would have removed protections for abortion rights. “When given the ability to vote for themselves … they want the policy that abortion is legal in their state, so that gives me hope,” Northup says. Multiple states will have abortion-related amendments on the docket this November, including in South Dakota, Colorado and Florida.
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