FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2017
[email protected]
On the forty-fourth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, and a day after the historic Women’s Marches in DC and around the world, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:
“Forty four years ago today, the United States Supreme Court affirmed that the right to abortion is protected by the constitution and ushered in a new era of safety and freedom for women in our reproductive health care. This landmark decision affirmed the notion that our autonomy over our bodies is central to the commonly held American values of freedom and self-determination. The founders of NARAL Pro-Choice America worked hard to achieve this landmark victory so that women would live in a world where we could chart our own destinies and access health care without risking our lives. We overcame many obstacles and challenged many bullying opponents forty four years ago, and our members draw upon the history and reservoirs of strength to face the battles of today to preserve and build upon that right.
“As this new president takes office arm-in-arm with a Congress overwhelmingly dedicated to stripping women of our federal rights, our future is more tenuous than it has been since that day forty four years ago. Our state legislatures have been slowly infiltrated by anti-choice politicians and they have succeeded in eroding our reproductive freedom across the country. Instead of providing the backstop against this tyranny over our bodies and our lives, this administration promises to be complicit in the task of finalizing the deal. We fully expect that they will use their power to dismantle, or even overturn, Roe v. Wade, and do what they can to appoint Supreme Court justices who share their worldview—one where women don’t deserve basic rights and should even be punished for exercising them.
“This would be a grave miscalculation. 7 in 10 Americans support legal and accessible abortion and if the marches across the country yesterday proved anything, it is our collective willingness to stand up and speak out. We all must rise up and make our values known so that the will of an extreme few does not overrule the will of the people. NARAL Pro-Choice America was founded before Roe v. Wade and before abortion was legal throughout the United States. We won’t back down from the fights ahead. This year—and every year—we will defend the freedoms enshrined in our constitution that define what it means to be American.”
To see video of NARAL members participating in yesterday’s historic Women’s March, click here.
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”
###