PITTSBURGH, PA –– Today, Congresswoman Summer Lee (PA-12) and State Rep. Arvind Venkat joined local storytellers, faith leaders, and community members at Free & Just’s “Ride to Decide” national bus tour event in Pittsburgh. The “Ride to Decide” bus tour comes as attacks on reproductive freedom escalate across the country. Support for legal abortion has increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, but that hasn’t stopped anti-abortion extremists and conservative lawmakers from continuing to undermine Americans’ access to abortion care,  birth control, and IVF treatment. 

At the event, local patient storytellers, health care providers, and community members shared how attacks on reproductive freedom harm women and families in Pennsylvania and across the country.

“Let's be clear, these abortion bans have created the most life threatening conditions for pregnant people in America in the last 50 years, in a country that already has the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality of any developed nation. These bans are endangering lives every single day for black women, the stakes are even higher,” said Congresswoman Summer Lee, who represents Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District. “Make people who want to strip our rights uncomfortable, make them know that it is unacceptable for them to continue on with this crusade to erode and further erode our rights and harm our people.” 

“Two years ago, when the Dobbs decision came down, I recognized immediately that this was going to have a tragic effect on my patients,” said State Representative Arvind Venkat, a practicing emergency medicine physician who represents the 30th Legislative District. “Efforts to overturn abortion rights are costing women their health, their fertility and their lives. And, I have colleagues in other states who are calling lawyers on a regular basis to ask ‘is this woman sitting up for me to do my job?’ We can’t allow this to happen.”

“No health care provider should be burdened with the dual role of delivering exceptional, patient centered care while also managing the overwhelming logistics and emotional support required by so many of our patients,” said Nikkole Terney, the director of abortion care at Allegheny Reproductive Health Center. “We step into these roles because we know how vital it is to ensure patients receive the care that they need.”

“My faith as a Unitarian Universalist, says that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was profoundly, utterly wrong,” said Rev. Dr. Kate R. Walker, a Minister at the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh. “Every part of our body belongs to us, and no one else can make those decisions.” 

“I have heard from hundreds of women and people born with reproductive organs about what the fall of Roe has done to them,” said Alliyson Feldman, an organizer with Red Wine and Blue Pennsylvania, a community of women standing up to extremism across the state. “This fight requires more than our work here in Allegheny County and across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – we have to work together across this great nation.” 

“There's nothing in the Bible that prohibits a woman from ending a pregnancy. In fact, the Bible repeatedly takes the position that human life begins at the first breath,” said Rev. Lee Anne Washington, a pastor at the Universalist Unitarian Church of the North Hills, who encouraged people of faith to engage in friendly dialogue with those who don’t support abortion. “Help them see a better way and that they can be good human beings, good Christians and followers of the Bible and still support women's reproductive freedom.” 

“I did what was right for my son, myself, and my family, and chose to have an abortion at 22 weeks into my pregnancy. I could not and would not carry my son for four more months, knowing his life would likely be filled with pain and suffering,” said Kelsey Leigh, who chose to terminate her pregnancy after receiving a devastating fetal diagnosis. “I chose to have an abortion and it's a decision I'm proud of. It's a choice that was only mine based on the information I had at the time, where I was in my life, and what I wanted to do.”

The “Ride to Decide” tour is headed to The Ohio State University campus in Columbus next, where local storytellers and campus leaders will spotlight the real-life impacts of abortion bans and attacks on reproductive freedom and share why federal action to protect access to abortion and reproductive health care has never been more important.

You can watch the event here. If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us. 

Free & Just is committed to fighting for reproductive freedom. Join us in sharing stories, raising voices, and securing our future. 

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Free & Just is fighting to stop attacks on reproductive freedom and rights. We’re working with people across the country to share real stories to show the devastating consequences of attacks on our reproductive freedom. We all deserve the right to control our bodies and lives. That’s why we’re sharing our stories, raising our voices, and fighting for our future.