Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation Launches Ad in Times Square Underscoring Acute Threats to Reproductive Freedom
Washington, DC—Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation released a new ad sounding the alarm about the unprecedented barrage of attacks on abortion access across the country. This ad comes as anti-choice politicians in at least 12 states have signaled their intent to pursue copycat legislation using Texas’ vigilante-enforced ban on abortion (SB 8) as a model. The ad launched on Friday, October 15, and will run through January 5, 2022.
NARAL Pro-Choice America Acting President Adrienne Kimmell released the following statement:
“One has to look no further than what is happening in Texas to understand that reproductive freedom is under unprecedented threat in our country. This year has seen more attacks on abortion access than any year since Roe was decided nearly 50 years ago. With the freedom to make our own decisions about our bodies and futures on the line like never before, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation and our members are fighting to make sure our communities understand just how much is at stake at this moment. The clock is ticking, and the time for bold action is now.”
Texas’ SB 8 went into effect on September 1. The law bans abortion at approximately six weeks in pregnancy, before many even know they’re pregnant, and includes a bounty hunting scheme that gives private citizens unprecedented power to enforce this law. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Texas’ blatantly unconstitutional ban on abortion, rendering Roe v. Wade meaningless for tens of millions of Texans.
Following the confirmation of Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court justices, which solidified an anti-choice supermajority on the Court, anti-choice state lawmakers escalated their attacks on the freedom to make personal decisions about pregnancy. This year, lawmakers hostile to reproductive freedom have introduced, advanced, or passed more than 330 state bills attacking abortion access in 2021. Texas’ SB 8 joins more than 100 restrictions on abortion access that have been enacted at the state level, making it the worst year for abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was decided.
The people hurt most by these restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing the care they need—including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and people of color; those working to make ends meet; members of the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
In May, the anti-choice supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case about Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban that directly challenges Roe v. Wade. The case will be argued on December 1, with a decision expected before next summer. If Roe fell, 24 states would likely take action to prohibit abortion outright. Twelve states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion automatically if Roe is overturned.
In response to the escalating threats to reproductive freedom at the state level and all the way up to the Supreme Court, the U.S. House of Representatives voted last month to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA). WHPA would safeguard the federal right to abortion throughout the United States if Roe is overturned. This legislation awaits a vote in the U.S. Senate.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, paid family leave, and protections from pregnancy discrimination—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.