Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Washington, D.C. — The dangerous bill moving through Alabama’s legislature to ban abortion is a direct violation of Roe vs. Wade. This unconstitutional measure would send women in the state back to the dark days of policymakers having control over their bodies, health, and lives.

NOW firmly believes that women have the constitutional right to safe, legal, affordable and accessible abortion care and we strongly oppose this bill and the other egregious pieces of legislation that extremist lawmakers are trying to pass in what they claim is an attempt to force the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. This is a transparent effort to drum up political support for anti-abortion candidates in upcoming elections and serves as a direct threat to women’s health, autonomy, and pursuit of happiness. We will not let it stand.

Contact

Kimberly Hayes, Press Secretary, press@now.org, 202-570-4745

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON — A new bill out of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations would restore vital funding and protections for reproductive health and rights across the world and would finally repeal the devastating global gag rule, which President Trump has repeatedly expanded.

The FY20 State, Foreign Operations bill advanced through the House subcommittee today and is expected to go to the full Appropriations committee next week. The National Organization for Women strongly supports the proposed bill and urges the full committee to vote it through to the House floor.

One of the first actions of the Trump-Pence administration was to expand the “global gag rule,” which prohibits international health care providers from giving women truthful information about their reproductive choices. And ever since the administration has continued to decimate international family planning programs, including slashing funding to the United Nations Population Fund, which provides lifesaving resources to millions of women and girls around the world.

This appropriations bill includes the Global HER Act to repeal the global gag rule and rectifies these wrongs by restoring desperately-needed dollars to international reproductive health care programs. We urge the House to keep the momentum moving forward on this important bill.

Contact

press@now.org , 202-570-4745

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Donald Trump announced an expanded “conscience rule,” otherwise known as a religious refusal, that will further erode the government’s role in protecting women’s health, replacing the delivery of health care with partisan, extremist politics.

The rule allows virtually any individual or entity involved in a patient’s care – from a hospital’s board of directors to the receptionist that schedules procedures – to put personal religious beliefs ahead of a patient’s health and deny basic medical care that includes abortion, reproductive health care and treatment for transgender patients.

The Hippocratic Oath dictates that medical professionals “do no harm,” but this new rule harms patients and tramples on their own deeply held values and beliefs. The medical care a patient receives is at the heart of our health care system–not the political beliefs or ideology of the office staff.  How can anyone count on their most personal medical decisions being respected–including end-of-life directives–if our health care system puts patients’ interests behind political considerations?

This new rule means rape survivors could be denied emergency birth control; same-sex couples could be denied fertility treatment, and women with an unintended pregnancy could be denied information and counseling on their options. Furthermore, health care providers take a pledge to provide care to anyone in need and this action is a violation of that fundamental standard.

Donald Trump has made it clear that he will block, impede, thwart and subvert our laws, constitutional norms and basic rights to advance his extremist anti-abortion agenda. His new rule invents a “right to discriminate” for those who oppose the scientific facts and constitutional protections associated with abortion care.

The Trump administration has taken this action ahead of the 2020 presidential election to incite his conservative base who oppose abortion and at the behest of conservative religious organizations who seek to advance their dangerous agenda regardless of whether it is sound medical practice. Meanwhile, millions of women and men in need will be denied crucial health care services.

His “conscience rule” is morally bankrupt, legally indefensible and unconscionable for anyone who cares about the constitutional protection of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  NOW supports a legal challenge to this blatantly political policy. We will work tirelessly to keep it from taking effect and continue to demand protection for women’s right to health care.

Contact

NOW Press, press@now.org, 202-570-4745