Center for Reproductive Rights Statement on the Inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States

(PRESS RELEASE) The Center for Reproductive Rights today called on incoming President Donald Trump to reject the extreme and divisive positions on women’s reproductive rights expressed during his campaign and reassure American women that their constitutional and human rights will be respected and protected during his administration, specifically pointing to the real threat a Trump administration presents to the landmark decision in Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt.

Said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights:

“In the days since the election, Donald Trump has repeatedly made statements that fly in the face of the constitutional protections recognized by Roe v. Wade and resoundingly reaffirmed in the Supreme Court’s decision last June in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. 

“President-elect Trump has publicly pledged to nominate justices who would overturn Roe and threatened punishment for the one in three American women who will have an abortion in her lifetime. Many of his cabinet nominees are on record opposing women’s access to safe and legal abortion, as well as contraception and other essential reproductive care.  Women deserve respect, compassion, and high-quality health care when they need to end a pregnancy—not threats from our nation’s leaders.

“The Center for Reproductive Rights is prepared to use all legal means to protect our access to reproductive healthcare and right to make the decisions about our families and our lives.”

In addition to his alarming remarks regarding making abortion illegal and “punishment” for women who have had abortions, president-elect Trump has also pledged allegiance to anti-women’s health activists and lawmakers set on defunding Planned Parenthood, strengthening the dangerous and discriminatory Hyde Amendment, and repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Since the ACA went into effect, over 55 million women gained guaranteed coverage of preventive services without cost-sharing, including birth control. This shift in access saves women an average of $269 annually.

Additionally, President-elect Trump has repeatedly stated he would nominate justices hostile to abortion rights to the Supreme Court—a particularly alarming promise since he has vowed to announce his nominee to replace Justice Scalia in the first two weeks of his presidency.

The importance of judicial appointments and Supreme Court precedent was recently illustrated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt—the most significant abortion-related ruling from the Court in more than two decades.  Whole Woman’s Health—which was the result of a legal challenge to two Texas laws brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights–reaffirmed the core principle of Roe and a woman’s constitutional right to access abortion.