A group of Black women in Congress is urging President Joe Biden urgently to protect abortion rights as the Supreme Court. Overturns Roe v. Wadeand seizes abortion access from millions across the country.
Representative Ayanna Pressley (D.Massachusetts), led 20 lawmakers in sending a letter to Biden on Thursday, asking him “to use every tool at your disposal” to protect reproductive rights, including “declaring a public health and national emergency” to combat attacks on abortion access. The letter was signed and dated by progressives such as Rep. Cori Bush (D–Missouri), and Ilhan Omar, (D–Minnesota). first reported by USA Today.
Friday’s decision “will obliterate legal abortion rights across the nation and exacerbate multiple public health crises disproportionately impacting Black communities,” the lawmakers wote. “The effects of this decision on the lives and health of Black women and pregnant people will be devastating and require an urgent and whole-of-government response.”
Anti-abortion movements are rooted in anti-Black racism throughout their history. long history. In their letter, the lawmakers noted that Black communities are particularly vulnerable to maternal health issues; research has shown that Black people are more susceptible to these problems. over three times more likelyTo die from pregnancy and three times more likelyTo get an abortion than whites.
Roughly 26 statesWill ban abortions immediately, or will they? RoeIt is gone, which will have devastating consequences for public health, particularly among the most vulnerable communities. With a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, only Congress or the Biden administration can act to protect abortion rights on the federal level — and Congress has already failed to pass itsSenate conservatives approve bill to allow abortion rights
Meanwhile, far-right politicians remain already gearing upThey will pass a nationwide ban on abortion if they maintain their power in Congress or at the White House.
The result? RoeMental health and economic crisesThe situation will only get worse. In a country where already perpetuates the highestCriminalization, incarceration rates worldwide will see yet anotherBlack people are most affected by this increase in socioeconomic issues.
“These unprecedented and calculated attacks on our bodily autonomy are a direct affront to the lives and freedom of Black women,” the letter reads. “In the midst of a Black maternal mortality crisis already robbing us of the lives of Black women three to four times the rate of white women, restricting access to abortion care will disproportionately endanger the lives of Black women and pregnant people.”
The lawmakers stated that declaring an immediate emergency over the abortion rights crises will allow the administration to exercise flexibility over unilateral pro-abortion measures.
Senate Democrats You can alsoBiden could take steps to protect abortion rights. He could direct the federal government’s creation of a national plan to retake the rights from white christofascists, in Congress, the Supreme Court and the state legislatures. They argue that Biden has “unique power” over the federal government to organize a response.
Although Biden This has been criticizedThe Supreme Court for Ending Roe, activists say that he hasn’t done enough to protect abortion rights. His administration claimed that it was waiting to hear from the Roe Decision to make public before announcing an Action Plan, but activists contend thatBiden could have taken action before the decision was made to protect abortion rights.
