Statement by NOW President Christian F. Nunes
WASHINGTON, DC–The U.S. Senate voted down the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) today, which would have allowed abortion access to continue across the country if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade . Once again, the male-dominated, Senate has shown that it cares more about controlling women and taking away their bodily autonomy than protecting their health and safety.
Even before this vote, the leak of Justice Alito’s draft opinion in the Mississippi abortion case emboldened state legislatures to unleash a tidal wave of cruelty, punishing women. Extreme right-wing legislators are advocating for and passing law after law to criminalize abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest, prohibit travel to other states for abortion care, restrict access to abortion pills, and even make some forms of contraception illegal.
These laws disproportionately harm Black, Indigenous and other people of color who already face barriers to accessing health care, along with those with low incomes, immigrants, young people, people with disabilities, the LGBTQIA+ community, and those living in rural and other medically underserved areas.
Today’s Senate doesn’t have the courage, vision or commitment to vote for women’s lives—but we do. NOW members are determined to make the upcoming midterm elections a referendum on women’s health and safety. We must elect a filibuster-proof abortion rights majority to the Senate, and stop these cruel, misogynist attacks on women’s rights.
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The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the nation’s leading membership-based advocacy group dedicated to defending women’s rights, advancing equality and combating injustice in all aspects of social, political and economic life. Through educating, mobilizing, and convening a vast network of grassroots activists across the country, NOW advocates for national, state and local policies that promote an anti-racist and intersectional feminist agenda. Since its founding in 1966, NOW has been on the frontlines of nearly every major advancement for women’s rights and continues to champion progressive values today. More about NOW’s efforts and resources is available at NOW.org.