Americans’ access to abortion could largely depend on which political party holds the most power after this year’s midterm elections. Previous court decisions from President Trump’s new Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, indicate that he may rule against reproductive rights when those cases come before the high court. Kavanaugh’s track record, coupled with Trump’s vow to appoint justices who would overturn the constitutional protection for abortion, has led advocates to start preparing for what happens if Roe v. Wade falls.
“I came of age before Roe v. Wade, so I know what it was like when women didn’t have a choice. We can’t go back to those days,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) says in a statement to Bustle. “There are midterm elections in only a few months, so it’s imperative that women, and all Americans, understand where their local politicians stand on women’s reproductive rights and send a clear message that women’s healthcare decisions should be made between a woman and her doctor.”
Abortion advocates are fighting Kavanaugh’s confirmation at the same time that many are bracing for a scenario in which he’s seated on a Supreme Court that then dismantles abortion rights. Individual states have been chipping away at abortionaccess for years, but the nomination of a new conservative Supreme Court justice gives the abortion rights movement and those grassroots systems that help women navigate restrictive abortion laws a renewed sense of urgency.
Just nine states have laws on the books that protect the right to an abortion, while 22 states risk losing access to abortion altogether if Roe v. Wade is overturned. According to Susan Inman, the chief counsel for federal policy and advocacy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, those 22 states are where people who support a woman’s right to choose should focus their energies right now. Access to abortion is already grim in many of those states, but it has the potential to get much worse.
“For five years I’ve been answering calls on our call line here in Mississippi, and what I don’t want to hear ever again is, ‘Ms. Laurie please help me or I’m going to drink this bleach,'” Laurie Bertram Roberts, executive director of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, tells Bustle. “It’s something I’ve heard often, especially from a lot of our younger girls who live in rural areas.”
Abortion funds like Roberts’ are already in place across the country to help women pay for abortion procedures and travel out of state to obtain one if necessary. Their work will become even more vital if Roe v. Wade falls and states begin outlawing abortion outright.
Read the full story at Bustle
