June 23, 2023

Duckworth Marks One Year of Post-Roe America, Reinforces Commitment to Protecting Reproductive Rights

 

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped millions of women of their right to access the reproductive care they deserve, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) issued the following statement:

“One year after the Supreme Court’s disastrous Dobbs decision, I remain just as outraged and horrified by Republicans’ barbaric, relentless efforts to strip Americans of their right to basic healthcare and their freedom to make their own personal decisions about their bodies, their families and their futures,” said Duckworth. “State by state, we’ve seen extremist Republicans pass abortion bans that are making it harder for women—especially low-income women, women of color and women with disabilities—to access reproductive care, birth control and life-saving treatment.”

Duckworth is a fierce advocate in protecting Americans’ right to access the reproductive healthcare they need. Duckworth joined more than 250 members of Congress in submitting an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, in support of the Biden Administration’s appeal of a federal district court ruling that suspends the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) more than 20-year-old approval of mifepristone as well as the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit—which does not revoke FDA approval of mifepristone in its entirety but does significantly restrict access to the drug nationwide and ultimately overrides FDA’s scientific judgment. Duckworth and also helped introduce the Women’s Health Protection Act of 2023, federal legislation to guarantee access to abortion everywhere across the country and restore the right to comprehensive reproductive healthcare for millions of Americans.

“Let’s be honest: Republicans’ push to restrict reproductive rights is not about protecting life,” Duckworth continued. “If it was, perhaps they would help us tackle our nation’s maternal mortality crisis that disproportionately impacts mothers of color or do something—anything—to push for commonsense gun safety reforms to save the lives of children being gunned down in their classrooms. But they’re not—because this isn’t about saving lives; it’s about control. I refuse to let women’s bodies be subject to the political whims of lawmakers whose beliefs tend to lean more toward insurrectionist than feminist. As Republicans continue their march toward a nationwide abortion ban, I’ll never stop working to expand affordable access to healthcare and enshrine every American’s right to choose—no matter their zip code.”

Duckworth hosted Dr. Erin King of Illinois’s Hope Clinic as her 2023 State of the Union guest, as part of the Senator’s continuing efforts to defend Americans’ right to full, comprehensive reproductive healthcare—no matter their zip code, income, ability status or skin color. In 2021, she introduced the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act, as well as previously supported the Women’s Health Protection Act, which she vocally criticized Republicans for blocking. After she urged Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to proactively protect servicemembers’ abortion rights, the Department of Defense announced several new protections and services to ensure our female troops can access the healthcare they need. Duckworth also pushed back against Republican attacks against the Biden Administration’s efforts to protect female Veterans’ access to care.

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