Documenting the attack on reproductive rights - and how to fight back

Ever since the Supreme Court ruled that banning abortion violates a woman’s right to privacy, those seeking to deny women control over their own bodies have sought to change state and federal laws to chip away at that right.

Today, Alliance for Justice zeros in on the threat to reproductive rights as we launch our  annual “First Monday” social justice campaign.  Alliance for Justice has been canvassing the field in the battleground states of Texas and Mississippi, listening to women’s stories and witnessing the day-to-day struggles of women who are watching their reproductive rights slip away.  The centerpiece of the campaign is a short video, Roe at Risk: The Fight for Reproductive Justice, documenting both the struggle and the hope of the men and women fighting to preserve the constitutional right to reproductive freedom and justice.  It is more important now than ever to take action, to speak out, and to organize for reproductive rights and access for all.

You can preview the video here:



Today also marks the 37th anniversary of one of the first attempts to restrict reproductive rights: the Hyde Amendment, a law that,bars states from using  Medicaid money to fund abortion.  Many poor people rely on Medicaid to pay for their health care.  So while it’s true that  the Hyde Amendment does not, technically, eliminate the right to abortion, it  renders that right largely meaningless for the many poor and low-income women who simply cannot afford to pay for an abortion on their own.  For such women it amounts to a legislative repeal of a constitutional right.

The late Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill.,
author of the Hyde Amendment

And as we show in Roe at Risk, while the federal government took one of the first steps to cut off access to abortion 37  years ago, states have been following suit ever since.  In recent years, some state lawmakers have been transparent in their attempts to deny access to abortion, directly attacking the right with legislation that makes abortion unlawful after a set period of time.  Such attempts have taken the shape of bans that begin at twenty-weeks, at twelve weeks or at six weeks.

In other states, restrictions on access to abortion have been more insidious.  One of the popular approaches is to pass “TRAP” laws, which stand for “targeted regulation of abortion providers.”  These laws often require abortion providers to attain admitting privileges at a local hospital, or require abortion clinics to meet the same standards as hospitals or ambulatory facilities.

TRAP laws are passed under the pretext of protecting women’s health and safety, but in reality they are thinly veiled attempts to shut down abortion clinics.  For example, hospitals typically are not  required to grant admitting privileges, and if they oppose abortion, they do not have to grant admitting privileges to abortion providers at all. Moreover, the requirements to attain admitting privileges vary and may be impossible for abortion providers to obtain for reasons wholly unrelated to health or safety.

Predictably, abortion clinics often cannot meet the laws’ unnecessary requirements, and then they are forced to shut down.  When clinics shut down, women are left stranded.  Ultimately, these TRAP laws have one purpose and one effect: to end abortion in the state.

Roe at Risk doesn’t just document the threat – it also shows how people across the country are fighting back.  Find out more about attempts to curb the right to choose, and about what you can do about it at www.roeatrisk.org 

Read more about the harm of the Hyde Amendment:

• How To Ditch Hyde Anti-Abortion Law And Win Elections.
• The End of Abortion Funding Restrictions? 
• Access Denied: There's nothing to cheer about on the anniversary of the Hyde Amendment
• The Hyde Amendment: Legislating Inequality for 37 Years. 
• 37 Years After Hyde, Abortion Access Still Remains Out of Reach for the Poor. 
• Millennials are Fighting to Overturn the Hyde Amendment.  
• The Dangerous Consequences of the Hyde Amendment. 
• A Very Unhappy Anniversary for Low Income Women.  
• How the Hyde Amendment Hurts Women. 
• Support the Troops, Repeal Hyde.  
• An Anniversary Date that Should Go Way: The Hyde Amendment. 
• Let’s Talk About Sex (and Abortion), Baby. How the Hyde Amendment Hurts Asian American and Pacific Islander Women.  
• The First Assault on Abortion Rights. 
• “Thirty-seven Years After the Hyde Amendment…the Movement is Back on Offense” 

From Bolder Advocacy: The nonprofits behind Wendy Davis' stand for reproductive rights

          Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis achieved an unexpected victory for the reproductive health movement last Wednesday, but she didn’t do it alone.

          While we all know about that now-famous back brace, little attention has been paid to the nonprofits that helped shine the spotlight on this amazing moment, and helped gather the stories about why access to reproductive services is so essential to a woman’s health and freedom.

          “Nonprofits and their supporters put the eyes of the world on Texas,” says Austin-based Jason Sabo, a consultant to progressive nonprofits. “From the outset Sen. Wendy Davis recognized the depth of support for her efforts.  Nonprofits were a critical part of the infrastructure that spread the word about what was happening at the Texas Capitol.”

Read the full post on our Bolder Advocacy blog

Urgent: Protect Women's Reproductive Freedom

Yesterday Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced an amendment to the Senate health care bill that is similar to the Stupak-Pitts amendment that was passed by the House.

The Senate is debating the amendment today, and will likely vote later this afternoon. If the Nelson-Hatch amendment passes, the Stupak-Pitts amendment will almost definitely end up in the final health care bill. Passing health care reform in this country shouldn't come at the cost of women's reproductive rights. But that's exactly what will happen if Democrats allow the anti-choice Nelson-Hatch amendment to become law. These amendments make it virtually impossible for insurance companies participating in the new health care system to provide abortion services for women who have their own private insurance plans.

This measure must be defeated. Time is of the essence, call your senators now and urge them to oppose Nelson's amendment and stop it any way they can, including a vote to table it.

Capitol Switchboard - (202) 224-3121

UPDATE: The Senate just voted to table the Nelson amendment. The vote was 54 to 45. Thanks to all of you who took action.

Somber News

Yesterday, well-known reproductive rights advocate Dr. George Tiller was shot to death in his church while attending services. Dr. Tiller was one of the few practitioners in the U.S. supporting late-term abortion in instances related to rape, incest and the mother’s health and served as Medical Director of the Women's Health Care Services clinic in Wichita, Kansas.

We are deeply saddened by the killing of Dr. Tiller, who put his life on the line as an advocate and provider of vital services to women and families. He had lived through a previous assassination attempt, as well as multiple assaults and bombings on his clinic, but through those threats of violence he courageously continued his work. According to the New York Times,

Dr. Tiller’s death is the first such killing of an abortion provider in this
country since 1998, when Dr. Barnett
Slepian was shot by a sniper in his home in the Buffalo area. Dr. Tiller was
the fourth doctor in the United States who performed abortions to be killed in
such circumstances since 1993, statistics
from abortion rights’ groups show.

Alliance for Justice joins reproductive rights advocates around the nation in honoring Dr. Tiller and his commitment to social justice. If you would like to learn more about remembering Dr. Tiller and the contributions his work has made to advancing the rights of women every where, check out Feministing’s list of vigils happening around the country.