On the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, progressive Democrat Lisa McCormick is among a chorus of voices demanding the restoration of women’s rights.
“One year ago today, the Supreme Court took away a fundamental right that had been protected for nearly 50 years,” said McCormick. “This decision has had a devastating impact on women across the country, and while it is clear that the fight for reproductive freedom is far from over many have noted that the leading advocates of these policies come from the same pro-slavery states that once comprised the Confederate States of America.”
A large majority of Americans believe that abortion should be legal and those citizens argue that the Supreme Court was wrong to take away the right to choose.
“The Supreme Court’s decision means women will be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term,” said McCormick. “America was once the land of slavery. Today, America is the land of forced birth.”
Since the Supreme Court’s decision, abortion has become largely unavailable in 14 states. In many of these states, women are now forced to travel long distances to obtain an abortion, or they are forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
“This is a dark day for women in America,” said McCormick. “But we will not give up. We will continue to fight for our right to make our own decisions about our bodies and our futures.”
McCormick, the progressive pro-choice Democratic woman who challenged US Senator Robert Menendez in the 2018 primary election, is a strong advocate for women’s rights and reproductive freedom.
The Supreme Court’s decision has had a devastating impact on abortion access in the United States,” said McCormick. “In addition to being forced to give birth to unwanted children, American women are now forced to travel long distances, pay more money, and wait longer to obtain an abortion.”
“This is especially true for women of color, who are more likely to live in states with restrictive laws,” said McCormick. “Women of color are disproportionately affected by abortion restrictions, as they are more likely to live in states with restrictive laws.”
“The number of abortion clinics in the United States has decreased by more than 40 percent since 2010,” said McCormick. “The average distance a woman must travel to obtain an abortion has increased by more than 100 miles.”
In the 13 states that have banned or severely restricted abortion since the Supreme Court’s decision, the number of abortion providers has decreased by more than 60 percent,” said McCormick. “The average cost of an abortion has increased by more than 50 percent since 2010.
The Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights and tracks reproductive issues, has estimated that the Supreme Court’s decision will lead to an additional 100,000 women seeking abortions each year being unable to obtain them.
“The United States is in the midst of an inexcusable public health crisis—one created by the Supreme Court’s unwarranted reversal of Roe v. Wade a year ago,” said Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Abortion is now illegal in 13 states. This criminalization has fallen hardest on the people and communities already facing systemic barriers to health care.”
“The impacts of the Dobbs ruling run from forcing pregnant people to travel out-of-state to get care, to carrying pregnancies to term that threaten their health and well-being, to denying life-saving abortion care in obstetric emergencies until patients are at death’s door,” said Northup. “These realities make one thing clear: It is dangerous today to be pregnant in any state that has banned abortion.”
“We have a roadmap for the forward fight to secure access to abortion care and other reproductive rights, as we have had in other countries around the world,” said Northup. “In recent decades, 60 countries have liberalized their abortion laws. Only four countries have gone backward: Poland, El Salvador, Nicaragua . . . and the United States.”