For Immediate Release: May 4, 2018
Contact: [email protected]
After Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law banning abortion before most women even know they are pregnant, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:
“This is a sad day for women and families in Iowa—their legislature and governor has thrown away their ability to plan their families and their futures. Banning abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant, this law will undoubtedly be challenged by the courts like other unconstitutional abortion bans before it. This law is not just about the women and families of Iowa, it’s about all Americans having the right to decide if, when, and how to have a family. This should be deeply concerning to anyone who believes women should be allowed to make decisions about their bodies and control their destinies, and we now look to the courts to defend our essential human rights.”
Background:
Now the most restrictive abortion law in the country, Iowa’s abortion ban is part of a growing national trend that is immensely concerning. Similar bills have been introduced all across the country, with the first being signed into law in North Dakota. Fortunately, in the few states such bills have passed, the courts have intervened. Sadly, it is a similar attack to the unconstitutional abortion ban heard in the U.S. House of Representatives in which anti-choice politicians saved a seat in the audience for a sonogram machine and made clear they were unconcerned with a woman’s right to her own bodily autonomy and legal right to access abortion.
The Supreme Court made very clear in Roe v. Wade, which established the constitutional right to an abortion, that restrictions on pre-viability abortion violate a woman’s right to privacy. The anti-choice GOP has made it clear that these bills are purposely meant to spark challenges in the courts and overturn Roe v. Wade. While the anti-choice GOP continues to control women’s bodies and roll back our reproductive freedom, we know that when abortion is banned the number of abortions doesn’t go down, but rather that the number of deaths and injuries to women goes up.
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.”
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