FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 2, 2020 | Download
Rhode Island Delegations Heads to DC to Make it Clear Abortion is Our Right and Our Decision
Fifty Rhode Island students and activists are joining advocates from across the country in speaking out about laws that limit access to abortion care and interfere with personal decision making.
| [Providence, RI] – Statement by The Womxn Project on the oral arguments in the case of June Medical Services v. Gee:
“On March 4, 2020 the Supreme Court will hear a case challenging a set of restrictions in Louisiana that not only interfere with access to abortion, but if enforced would close down clinics throughout the state. What’s happening in Louisiana is all too familiar. We have seen restriction after restriction and road block after road block put into place that does nothing but push much needed reproductive healthcare out of reach and leaves the most vulnerable people without any options. We just saw a resolution pushed in Rhode Island last week trying to say abortion should be taken away before most people even know they are pregnant. It is way past time that we make it clear ENOUGH is ENOUGH! That’s why The Womxn Project has pulled together a group of 50 students and activists to travel to Washington, DC to be part of a demonstration aimed at urging the Court to stop the sham and to strike down laws that have nothing to do with health and safety and everything to do with making abortion care harder to get. We will also meet with members of our congressional delegation to urge their support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, federal legislation that would prohibit the kind of medically unnecessary and intrusive laws that are up for debate in this case. We stand in solidarity with patients and providers throughout the country who work hard to make sure people have safe health options. We stand in solidarity with the thousands of people who will be in DC raising their voices to challenge the limits that are placed on abortion as part of politically motivated attacks. But most of all we will be there to stand up for women and families in our state as part of our commitment to ensuring that every Rhode Islander is able to make their own decision about whether and when they are ready to be a parent. The case may focus on Louisiana, but it is a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate on these kinds of medically unnecessary and onerous limitations. We took a huge and important step here in Rhode Island last year by passing the Reproductive Privacy Act, but we know that for many people care is still pushed out of reach by laws that take away health coverage or put up barriers for young people. There is still work to be done right here to make sure when someone needs an abortion that they make that decision and that they can get care without judgment or barriers. The Supreme Court has the opportunity to make sure that people in Louisiana have not only their legal right to abortion, but also the ability to access this much needed healthcare in their own community without the undue burden of traveling hundreds of miles to the nearest provider. We will be there watching and listening on March 4th and we will keep fighting back in our home state to make sure that whether people choose adoption, seek abortion or raise a child that they have the support and services they need.” ### The Womxn Project team and our delegation are available for interview up on request. |