FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2016
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Number of Anti-Choice Laws Enacted Remain Near Record Numbers; Pro-Choice Measures Enacted at Highest Level Since 2008
SCOTUS Case and Upcoming Presidential Election Will Tip the Scales in 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America and NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation released the 25th edition of Who Decides? The Status of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States. In a presentation given today, NARAL Pro-Choice America revealed that while the nation once again earned a “D” and 27 states earned an “F,” 19 states enacted 31 pro-choice measures in 2015, the most since 2008. States also enacted more anti-choice measures in 2015 than they did in 2014, highlighting the need to protect reproductive freedom in 2016 at the Supreme Court, in Congress, from the White House and in state legislatures across the country.
Read the report: http://nar.al/wd16rpt
“When a country earns a ‘D’ grade in respecting the rights that seven in 10 Americans want protected, it becomes clear that our political leadership is out of touch with our values and priorities as a nation,” said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “2016 can be a turning point for reproductive freedom if we all stand up against the anti-choice rhetoric from the extreme minority and make policy-makers understand the importance of these fundamental rights for all.”
The report, published each year, provides individual letter grades for all 50 states on the status of women’s reproductive rights and provides a comprehensive view of choice-related legislation and the choice position of each state house and governor’s seat. This year’s report comes as anti-choice rhetoric fuels acts of violence, the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of burdensome restrictions on abortion providers, politicians continue to enact legislation to restrict women’s ability to get abortion care, and presidential candidates gear up for another round of debates.
View the presentation: http://nar.al/wd16ppt
As we enter the second session of the 114th Congress, both chambers remain incongruous with the majority of American people. Whereas seven in 10 Americans support a woman’s right to choose, fewer than four in 10 members of Congress, three in 10 governors, and fewer than two in 10 state legislatures are pro-choice.
“We are encouraged by the number of measures that expanded reproductive freedom in 2015, and we think this is what the American people want and what the future holds,” continued Hogue. “Our work this year is to support those lawmakers who pursue an agenda in line with what real women and families need. We will be closely watching the incoming lawmakers who assured voters that they would stand up to the assault on our basic freedoms, and hold them accountable when they fall short.”
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