Extremist judges will not stop endangering the lives of pregnant people or people who may become pregnant—overturning Roe v. Wade, attacking medication abortion, threatening the future of IVF, and this week at SCOTUS, emergency abortion care.
Our lawyers are waging strategic fights that make clear what is at stake for people who can become pregnant and seek to bolster our fundamental rights to control our lives, futures, and destinies.
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Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act.
Yes, you read that right.
They voted to protect a kitchen appliance’s freedom. From what, you may ask? From government regulations that make sure our stoves aren’t harming us.
I wish I was joking. But I’m not.
And that’s not all. In the same week that the House passed a bill to protect “freedom” of an inanimate kitchen object, it also took multiple swings at our (read: actual people) freedoms. First, House Republicans attacked the Biden administration’s life- and health-saving regulation that allows abortion care for our veterans through the VA health care system. In that same attack, they went after health care for trans folks and banned Pride flags. Second, members of a House appropriations committee tried to whack away at mifepristone, one of two medications most commonly used in medication abortion. Third, this week both House and Senate anti-abortion lawmakers went after the Department of Defense’s policy that supports service members and their family members traveling for abortion care, which is necessary because federal law prohibits abortion care at military bases. And so far, nearly every spending bill introduced by House Republicans attacks abortion access, including reviving their years-long attack on the rights of D.C. residents to make personal reproductive health care decisions and not be fired for them.
Maybe if we dress up as microwaves or kettles, Congress will stop these attacks?
Working on abortion policy often means wanting to throw your computer out the window. But, in the midst of these attacks, we’re also seeing some good actions happening on the Hill.
This week, Senators who support abortion access moved to pass legislation that would protect pregnant people and their supporters traveling for abortion care, health care providers offering abortion care, expand protections for personal health data privacy, and protecting our right to contraception.
On the House side, Rep. Pressley led the introduction of the Abortion Justice Act, centered around the message that “freedom begins with our bodies.” And Rep. Chu and other leaders of the Pro-Choice Caucus used a procedural maneuver to push for a House vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act. In other words, we saw efforts to expand abortion access, not attack it at every corner.
And finally, two incredible lawyers with records of fighting for abortion rights, Nancy Abudu and Julie Rikelman, were confirmed as federal circuit judges these past few weeks!
Congress is always filled with ups and downs. These last two weeks are no exceptions. I choose not to dwell on the attacks because they are always there. As I once more refrain from heaving my laptop into the ocean, I will end on a positive note. Abortion is freedom, and I will always fight to defend the freedom of ovens people to get them.
