FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 1, 2021
Atlanta, GA --- Last night at 12am CST, with no emergency action from the U.S. Supreme Court to block the law, Texas’s radical 6-week abortion ban (S.B. 8) went into effect. This means that providers, including the three Texas affiliates, are now complying with the ban, making abortion nearly impossible for patients in Texas to access.
Our partners are still fighting in court to ensure Texans have access to abortion. And today, in Texas and across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations and partners are holding a National Day of Action to raise awareness on Texas’s draconian abortion ban and to show support for reproductive freedom across the country.
Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates President and CEO Staci Fox focused efforts today on educating the public about Governor Kemp’s illegal six-week abortion ban, politicians’ recent attacks on reproductive health across the South, and launch of the Georgia “Bans Off Our Bodies” Bus Tour across metro Atlanta.
Today’s message to anti-abortion politicians was clear: “Keep your bans off our bodies.”
Statement from Staci Fox, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates:
“A threat to outlaw abortion in Texas, is a threat to legal abortion everywhere. And today’s ruling just signals that the fight to maintain access to reproductive health care services for millions of people is not over.
“Later this month, Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates is taking Governor Kemp to court to stop an extreme six-week ban similar to the unconstitutional S.B. 8 legislation in Texas. And this fall, SCOTUS will hear a Mississippi case that is a direct challenge to Roe v Wade.
"Across the South and all over the country, out of touch politicians are attempting to take away patients’ access to reproductive health care to make a political point. Let’s be clear: 80% of people in this country support safe, legal abortion.
“We cannot and will not let this stand — not in Texas, not in Mississippi, not in Georgia — anywhere.”
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As the organizing, advocacy, and electoral arm of Planned Parenthood Southeast, Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates (PPSEA) engages electoral activities including voter education and mobilization. We believe elected officials should support policies and programs that help women and their families make responsible choices about the prevention of unintended pregnancies and plan for healthy families. PPSEA works to educate and mobilize the public and elect lawmakers who support these policies.
Tags: Georgia, Abortion restrictions, SB8