
Republicans have already been shoving anti-abortion provisions into a large swath of payments.
State-level abortion bans are wreaking havoc throughout the nation, criminalizing abortion seekers, placing people’s lives at risk, and eroding access to reproductive care at massive. However Republicans gained’t be happy to only cease on the state-level, one Democrat is warning: They wish to ban abortion nationwide.
On Monday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) warned of the dire penalties for abortion entry if Republicans take management of Congress after the 2024 election.
“For those who didn’t know already, if Republicans win management of the Home and Senate in 2024, they’re going to move a nationwide abortion ban. It’s 100% sure,” Murphy wrote. “Simply so we’re clear in regards to the stakes.”
Murphy’s tweet was in response to an anti-abortion rider that Republicans added to the fiscal yr 2024 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act (NDAA) final week. Republicans launched an modification to the invoice that may ban the Division of Protection from paying for abortion-related providers, which handed largely alongside get together strains. The NDAA handed the Home by a slender margin on Friday, with most Democrats voting “no.”
Republicans are angling to make use of the 2024 funds in different methods to assault abortion entry, shoving anti-abortion provisions into practically each company’s funding bundle.
As an example, Republicans’ Meals and Drug Administration funding invoice would reverse an company determination that allowed abortion drug mifepristone to be despatched by mail and distributed at retail pharmacies, reasonably than particular well being care suppliers. The Division of Veterans Affairs funding invoice has a provision barring company services and funds from getting used for abortions. And for funding for health-related companies, Republicans have inserted riders barring federal funding for abortion hotlines and stopping the implementation of President Joe Biden’s government actions geared toward defending abortion entry.
It’s unclear what number of of those provisions will move, if any. However the truth that the GOP is in search of to restrict abortion entry by funding payments is a mirrored image of the get together’s priorities.
And, as Murphy identified, different proof has proven that the GOP is certainly aiming to ban abortion throughout the nation. Shortly after the far proper Supreme Court docket determination to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked final yr, each Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and now-Home Majority Chief Kevin McCarthy (R-California) expressed an curiosity in pursuing a nationwide abortion ban.
In the meantime, Republicans have a directive from the Republican Nationwide Committee (RNC) to pursue such a ban. In January, RNC members voted on a decision directing Republicans in Congress to move “the strongest” anti-abortion laws “doable.”A nationwide abortion ban could be calamitous. It might destroy reproductive care and well being, create widespread financial hardship and create a massive uptick in pregnancy-related deaths. Folks of color, particularly Black folks, would see the worst results.
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