Press Release California
Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
For Immediate Release: Sun, January 22, 2023
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice America Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade
Washington, D.C. — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America observes what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion. NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju will also join Vice President Kamala Harris later today in Tallahassee, Florida, for her speech commemorating Roe.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“Today is a reminder of our resiliency, courage, and strength. Though we may be compelled to mourn, let’s honor those who have dedicated themselves to fighting for our right to legal abortion and recognize the real people being harmed by bans and restrictions on abortion care. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade does not define the decades-long movement we’ve organized, mobilized, and cultivated together. The 8 in 10 Americans who support the legal right to abortion made their voices heard loud and clear in November, and we aren’t giving up. We recognize that Roe was never enough to guarantee reproductive freedom, and we must now work to build something even better. Roe recognized the right to abortion, but it didn’t protect access—which is why we are fighting to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act and EACH Act in Congress, and efforts to protect and expand access to care at the state level.”
Throughout the country, millions are facing the devastating impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strip Americans of the fundamental freedom to make decisions about their bodies. At the same time, House Republicans have made restricting abortion their top priority and will try to ban abortion nationally next, and anti-choice legislators across the country are gearing up to plow ahead with new abortion bans and restrictions as new state legislative sessions begin.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Roe, NARAL Pro-Choice America launched its 2023 “Freedom for Everybody” organizing and mobilization program earlier this week. This program builds on the momentum of the midterms, giving voters and supporters more ways to act on their values by training them to organize in their own communities. In the coming weeks, NARAL will hold its first major event as part of the program, kicking off a year-round series of events welcoming our rapidly-growing member base and plugging them into our grassroots work in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, and Nevada and across the country.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to ban abortion. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 17 states are enforcing bans on abortion. According to a new report from the Gender Equity Policy Institute, people who live in states that have banned abortion face dangerous and sometimes deadly outcomes at a much higher rate than their counterparts in states where abortion is legal.
The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.