Why protect a right that the Supreme Court now says is not a right unless your state says it is, and even then that right will receive very weak protection. The right can come and go at the will of your legislators. As a new legislator is elected or an old one remains in office, that right remains at risk as long as it is not receiving federal protection.
Rights you have to beg for from those in power are not rights at all.
Time and time again states have proven that they will abuse your rights the first chance they get. This is why the people had to go back and pass the Fourteenth Amendment, applying the protection of the United States Constitution to the states. The Dobbs ruling by Alito now puts women’s rights to make medical decisions is now up to the court’s discretion.
Texas passed SB8 restricting abortions to 6 weeks or less and enticing individuals to stalk, harass, and track women’s menstrual cycles and invade their privacy by demanding private medical health information in order to sue them and anyone who helps them obtain an abortion of an unwanted pregnancy.
The Women’s Health Protection Act
Passing the Women’s Health Protection Act would not only restore the pre-Dobbs status quo but dismantle a slew of state restrictions on abortion.
The number of women who will die in pregnancy will increase dramatically if forced to carry a pregnancy to term that endangers their life.
NARAL president Mini Timmaraju said “And we owe these folks who are at risk of losing their lives because of things like ectopic pregnancies, we owe them the biggest, boldest solution possible.”
Why hasn’t the Women’s Health Protection Act passed yet?
This bipartisan Kaine-Collins bill passed the House twice but ended up in a Senate filibuster.
How can we get the Women’s Health Protection Act passed?
The Act would need 60 votes in the senate to pass legislation. Collins, Murkowski, and Sinema do not support overturning the filibuster even though Sinema does support the Women’s Health Protection Act. Collins, Murkowski and Joe Manchin oppose the legislation, calling it too expansive.
Kaine says “I think life post-Dobbs is a series of tragedies, and we have a sense that real life is going to push votes our way” just like the fight for gun control has had to wait for unspeakable number of tragedies before that has gained the support it needs to pass any kind of meaningful legislation.
Stop Criminalizing Women’s Healthcare.
Congress by introducing this Act is trying to protect women, but Congress has limited authority. Congress would need to justify it’s authority and would probably rely on Section 5 of the 14th Amendment or the commerce clause. Congress may be able to protect women’s rights for a bit but has limited authority to legislate in this area. The Supreme Court ultimately can decide that Congress does not have the authority.
There’s one more thing you can do.
Support the movies we are making to educate the public on women’s rights now at risk. There are 3 more states with abortion trigger laws set to activate by the end of August 2022. Women are expected to die at alarmingly increased numbers.
This movie shows you the consequences of limited access to abortion.
Melody Brooke films is periodicity the first of several films in a series about the impact Dobbs is having on women and children, beginning with the first movie about a 15-year-old girl who becomes pregnant by her 21-year-old boyfriend., and the hard choices they have to make in a Post Roe world.
Based on a true story.
Resources:
You can read more about what VOX says about this issue here: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/22/23306142/kaine-collins-codify-roe-abortion-congress
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