This week anti-abortion politicians around the country continued their all-out attacks on access to abortion care both at the federal and the state level.
President & CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health and Ob/Gyn in DC, Dr. Jamila Perritt Responds:
“These abortion bans are despicable, medically and scientifically inaccurate, and cruel. From the federal abortion ban introduced that would eliminate access to abortion around the country for those seeking care after the first trimester, to legislation introduced Wednesday by anti-abortion Members of Congress, that would give pharmacists the power to deny patients medication if they suspect it could be used to terminate a pregnancy, we continue to see these unrelenting attacks on our basic human right to bodily autonomy. This is unacceptable. A politician or a provider’s personal beliefs should never dictate patient care. Medicine and science should. We are already seeing pharmacists refuse to fill valid prescriptions and health care providers delaying and refusing to provide care because they are concerned doing so would violate state abortion bans or because they object to essential reproductive health care.
“Make no mistake, the attacks on our health and well-being are not silo-ed to the federal level. States across the country continue to attempt to ban abortion at every turn. This week alone we’ve seen a number of restrictions, including in West Virginia and Indiana. West Virginia passed a near total abortion ban, making abortions illegal in nearly all circumstances, in addition to subjecting physicians to disciplinary action including loss of licensure. The state’s abortion ban goes even further, limiting the provision of abortion care to physicians only, despite robust medical and scientific evidence that shows this to be medically unnecessarily, and further limiting to access to abortion care especially for those whose lives are at risk or have experienced sexual assault. Indiana’s near total abortion ban which has gone into effect today, wipes out abortion access for 1.5 million people of reproductive age in the state. The ripple effects of this ban are devastating and far-reaching forcing people to travel further outside of their communities to get essential, time sensitive care.
“These efforts to ban access to abortion care are cruel and inhumane, and to be clear, that is the point. Since the Supreme Court eliminated the Federal, constitutional right to abortion, anti-abortion advocates across the country have relentlessly pushed for total bans on abortion. These bans stigmatize and shame people who need abortion access. They strip people of their agency and autonomy. They compromise providers’ ability to provide comprehensive, evidenced based medical care. They have created a two-tiered system of health care determined by where you live and what resources are afforded to you.
“We, at Physicians for Reproductive Health, will not be silent in the face of these attacks. We will not back down. We will continue to fight and do what is necessary to protect the health and wellbeing of the patients we care for and the communities we serve from these politically motivated, ideologically driven attacks on abortion access.”