Today the United States Supreme Court granted review of Mississippi’s unconstitutional 15-week ban on abortion care. Dr. Kristyn Brandi, ob/gyn in New Jersey and Board Chair of Physicians for Reproductive Health responds:
“As a community of physicians who know that abortion is basic, essential, safe health care, we are extremely alarmed that the Supreme Court will review a clearly unconstitutional ban on abortion, a ban that violates 50 years of Supreme Court precedent.
The evidence is clear – abortion is health care. We should not be questioning the validity of this fact.
“As a provider of abortion care, I know that every person should have the resources and care they need to make decisions about their bodies, their families, and their futures. Mississippians already face some of the most restrictive laws preventing communities from getting the health care they need.
“I am very concerned by this and other attacks on reproductive health care during a global pandemic. We should be making care more accessible, not limiting options. That is why federal legislation like Women’s Health Protection Act and Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act are so important. The evidence is clear – abortion is health care. We should not be questioning the validity of this fact.
“I urge the Supreme Court to listen to people who have abortions and to people who provide abortion care. Restrictions on abortion fall most heavily on communities who are already inequitably impacted by barriers to health care: Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and people capable of pregnancy, people with low incomes, people in rural communities, and LGBTQIA people. Allowing even more unjustified restrictions on abortion will only hurt patients. We expect the Supreme Court to follow precedent and strike down unconstitutional laws like the Mississippi ban.”