Anti-Abortion Senators Shamefully Block National Abortion Rights Legislation as SCOTUS Prepares to Overturn Roe v. Wade
For Immediate Release: May 11, 2022
Abortion Rights Supporters Across the Country to Rally for Abortion Rights on Saturday in “Bans Off Our Bodies” Day of Action
Washington, D.C. — Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, released the following statement after anti-abortion senators blocked the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA):
“Today, Americans saw which of their elected representatives will stand up for their reproductive freedom and which continue to be complicit in the attacks on their rights. But politicians opposed to abortion rights are not stopping here — they have made it clear that their ultimate goal is to ban abortion nationwide. We know that abortion bans disproportionately harm Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ communities, people with low incomes, and people living in rural areas — people who already face barriers to care, due to centuries of systemic discrimination. With the Supreme Court planning to overturn Roe v. Wade, we are at a tipping point in the fight to be able to make decisions about our own bodies, lives, and futures. We will not back down, and we will not forget those who put politics over our health and rights.”
WHPA establishes a statutory right to provide and receive abortion care across the nation. This legislation would help protect the right to abortion throughout the United States and guard against abortion bans and restrictions.
On Saturday, May 14, in cities and towns across the United States, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to turn out for a national “Bans Off Our Bodies” day of action in support of abortion rights. The anchor events planned in New York City, Austin, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and the over 200 other events across the country will demonstrate the massive support for abortion rights nationwide, and make clear to the public just how serious the threat to those rights is in this moment.
###
Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy, and limited electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.