Case on restrictive Louisiana abortion law could threaten access to abortion nationwide
For Immediate Release: December 2, 2019
Contact: [email protected]
Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America joined the National Women’s Law Center and over 70 other partner organizations to file an amicus brief in the June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee case, which threatens to shut down health care centers providing abortion care and push access to abortion further out of reach. The case, which is scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court on March 4, 2020, centers on a restrictive Louisiana abortion law and is virtually identical to a case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, that was settled by the Court just three years ago. If the Supreme Court allows this law to go into effect, it will effectively ban abortion in Louisiana by closing all the clinics in the state except one, leaving one doctor to provide abortion care for nearly one million women of reproductive age in the state. NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue issued the following statement:
“This is the opportunity that the anti-choice movement has been waiting for to roll back our fundamental freedoms and dismantle the integrity of the Court. The only thing that has changed since the Supreme Court settled a case virtually identical to June v. Gee just three years ago is the composition of the Court. By appointing Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the highest court in the land, Donald Trump has more than paid back his debts to the anti-choice movement that got him elected. As a result, our hard-won rights are in peril. This impending threat to abortion access did not come about by accident: the anti-choice movement’s strategy is to stack the federal bench with anti-choice judges who will spend their lifetime appointments working to roll back reproductive freedom. We’re proud to join the National Women’s Law Center and the many partner organizations dedicated to securing women’s equality in filing this amicus brief to send a message that reproductive freedom is non-negotiable. We urge the Court to uphold precedent and protect the fundamental freedoms that the vast majority of Americans hold dear.”
As NARAL has said from the beginning, Donald Trump’s judicial nominees like Brett Kavanaugh are beholden to the anti-choice movement and are willing to overturn precedent to accomplish an ideological agenda. Since Kavanaugh’s confirmation, extreme bans on abortion have been introduced, passed, or signed in 31 states this year alone, as an emboldened anti-choice movement pounces on the opportunity to gut or overturn Roe v. Wade now that Kavanaugh is on the bench. Kavanaugh took it upon himself to show his true colors when he wrote the dissenting opinion opposing an earlier request to temporarily block the abortion restriction in June Medical Services, LLC v. Gee from going into effect.
In addition to Kavanaugh’s hostility to abortion rights, he faces multiple credible sexual assault allegations that were ignored as part of Trump and Senate Republicans’ efforts to jam through his nomination without appropriate investigation or oversight. NARAL will continue to push for real investigations, meaningful accountability, and Kavanaugh’s removal from the bench, while standing up for every person’s freedom to make the best decision for themselves about how, if, and when to grow or start a family.
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NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked 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. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom. 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.”