Skip to content
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Reproductive Rights

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • The Center’s Impact
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Annual Reports
    • Corporate Engagement
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • Cases Archive
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Global Advocacy
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Stories
    • Events
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Press Releases
    • Statements
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • U.S. Abortion Rights: Resources
    • Maps
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
    • Repro Red Flags: Agency Watch
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Become a Monthly Donor
    • Make a Donor Advised Fund Gift
    • Leave a Legacy Gift
    • Donate Gifts of Stock
    • Give a Gift in Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Employee Matching Gifts
    • Mail a Check
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
Donate
icon-hamburger icon-magnifying-glass Donate
icon-magnifying-glass-teal

Roe V. Wade Anniversary: Fights Over Abortion Are Often One-Sided

Center for Reproductive Rights - Center for Reproductive Rights - search logo
search Close Close icon
Center for Reproductive Rights -
Menu Close Menu Close icon
Donate

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • The Center’s Impact
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Annual Reports
    • Corporate Engagement
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • Cases Archive
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Global Advocacy
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Stories
    • Events
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Press Releases
    • Statements
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • U.S. Abortion Rights: Resources
    • Maps
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
    • Repro Red Flags: Agency Watch
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Become a Monthly Donor
    • Make a Donor Advised Fund Gift
    • Leave a Legacy Gift
    • Donate Gifts of Stock
    • Give a Gift in Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Employee Matching Gifts
    • Mail a Check
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Related Content

Issues:

Abortion

Regions:

United States

Work:

Engaging Policymakers, In the States (USA), Reporting on Rights

Type:

News, Story

Follow the Center

Donate Now

Join Now

01.22.2014

Engaging Policymakers Abortion United States News

Roe V. Wade Anniversary: Fights Over Abortion Are Often One-Sided

Justin Goldberg

Share

  • facebook
  • Twitter
  • linkedin
  • Email id
#ActforWomen: An opportunity we must seize
By Nancy Northup
https://reproductiverights.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/CRR_NN_headshot.jpg

Politicians in the U.S. House of Representatives have already made it clear that—once again—one of their top priorities for the new year will be to continue their relentless assault on women’s health and rights.



In one of its first acts of 2014, the House Judiciary Committee considered H.R. 7, the so-called “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” the true purpose of which is to deny insurance coverage of abortion care to women across the United States — and the effect of which would be felt disproportionately by women hit hardest by difficult economic circumstances.



This bill would permanently ban abortion coverage for millions of women, including federal employees, women enrolled in Medicaid, military servicewomen, Peace Corps volunteers and many others who depend on health care and insurance coverage through the federal government.



I wish I could say this comes as some surprise. Sadly, it has become a shameful ritual that repeats itself every time Congress and state legislatures across the U.S. come back into session each year.



At the federal level, politicians hostile to women’s reproductive health care have been using the congressional purse strings to inflict pain like this for decades. And in recent years, they’ve gone beyond attacks on insurance coverage to strike at the provision of reproductive health care itself.



While they haven’t quite matched the fury of their counterparts in the state legislatures — who considered a breathtaking 250 pieces of anti-choice legislation in nearly every state last year — the 113th Congress has introduced more than 50 bills aimed at choking off women’s access to safe, legal, high-quality reproductive health care.



Last summer, for example, the House approved a cruel and patently unconstitutional ban on all abortions in the U.S. after 20 weeks of pregnancy. It’s a measure that would strip women of their ability to make complicated, personal, and often very difficult medical decisions at a time when they are receiving critical test results on the health of their pregnancy.



It’s also a measure that has been rejected by every single court that has considered it — including now the nation’s highest.



Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place the Ninth Circuit’s sound decision to permanently strike Arizona’s 20-week ban, ensuring that no Arizona woman’s life or health will be harmed by that callous law.



And when a similar measure was put to voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico last November, it was defeated 55 percent to 45 percent.



Despite these resounding rejections by courts and voters alike, women’s health care continues to face deadly serious threats from those who seek to make it illegal or impossible to obtain, indifferent to the devastating consequences that women will suffer as a result.



Forty-one years after Roe v. Wade recognized women’s constitutional right to decide for themselves whether to continue or end a pregnancy, free from the intrusion of politicians who presume to know better what’s right for them and their families, the fact is that Roe’s promise of safe and legal abortion care for all women in the U.S. remains an empty promise for millions of women in this country.



And many members of Congress are intent on making things worse. But not all.



More than 120 members who value the health, lives and rights of women in the U.S. — including 34 senators and 95 representatives—aren’t just fighting back against these harmful measures advanced by their colleagues. They’ve stepped up with some legislation of their own.



Last fall saw the historic introduction of the federal Women’s Health Protection Act (S 1696/HR 3471), a bill designed to put an end to many of the laws that block women from realizing their constitutional right to an abortion. 



The Women’s Health Protection Act is a shot across the bow in a political fight that is far too often one-sided. It would bar politicians on Capitol Hill and in statehouses across the country from trampling on women’s health, rights and personal decision making through laws that have nothing to do with advancing health or safety and everything to do with closing abortion clinics.



Its introduction coincided with a massive effort to advocate to ensure that every woman can obtain and afford the full range of reproductive health care services essential to her well-being, including abortion services when she needs it.



People are fed up. They’re speaking out. And — for the first time in a long time — there are signs that a critical mass of our representatives in Congress is listening.



This is a vital opportunity to reclaim the rights that Roe recognized and the protections it established more than four decades ago, and to boldly defend the health and safety of all women across the U.S., no matter where they happen to live or how much money they happen to make.



It’s an opportunity to take decisive action, to draw the line against attacks on women’s rights and health, to take a gigantic step away from the dark days of the past and into a dramatically brighter future for all American women.



And it’s an opportunity we must seize. Because we are one nation, governed by one constitution, whose rights and protections are supposed to be guaranteed equally to all of us.



And because it’s not just Roe that’s at risk. It’s the health, safety, lives and futures of millions of women around the country.



Nancy Northup is the president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.



Read this op-ed posted on Talking Points Memo.


Related Posts

Complaint: Medical Students for Choice vs. Wright

Abortion,United States, Accountability Bodies,Engaging Policymakers

Testimony of the Center for Reproductive Rights on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Proposal

The Center for Reproductive Rights respectfully submits the following testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance in strong opposition...

Abortion, Legal Restrictions, Other Barriers, Contraception, Legal Restrictions, Funding for Reproductive Healthcare, Other Financial Barriers, Right to Care, Maternal Health,United States,Engaging Policymakers

June Medical Services v. Gee: Petition for Attorney’s Fees

Abortion, Legal Restrictions,United States,In the Courts, Engaging Policymakers, In the States (USA)

Sign up for email updates.

The most up-to-date news on reproductive rights, delivered straight to you.

Footer Menu

  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Gift Acceptance Policy
  • Contact Us

Center for Reproductive Rights
© (1992-2024)

Use of this site signifies agreement with our disclaimer and privacy policy.

Better Business Bureau Charity Watch Top Rated Center for Reproductive Rights
This site uses necessary, analytics and social media cookies to improve your experience and deliver targeted advertising. Click "Options" or click here to learn more and customize your cookie settings, otherwise please click "Accept" to proceed.
OPTIONSACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-6619340-11 minuteNo description
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
_parsely_session30 minutesThis cookie is used to track the behavior of a user within the current session.
HotJar: _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjFirstSeen30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjid1 yearThis cookie is set by Hotjar. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
HotJar: _hjIncludedInPageviewSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjIncludedInSessionSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjTLDTestsessionNo description
SSCVER1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for online advertising by creating user profile based on their preferences.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr3 monthsThe cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
IMRID1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for storing the start and end of the user session for nielsen statistics. It helps in consumer profiling for online advertising.
personalization_id2 yearsThis cookie is set by twitter.com. It is used integrate the sharing features of this social media. It also stores information about how the user uses the website for tracking and targeting.
TDID1 yearThe cookie is set by CloudFare service to store a unique ID to identify a returning users device which then is used for targeted advertising.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
adEdition1 dayNo description
akaas_MSNBC10 daysNo description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearNo description
geoEdition1 dayNo description
next-i18next1 yearNo description
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo
Scroll Up