Donald Trump and Conservatives Want to Ban Abortion – Whether State-by-State or in a Nationwide Push
Personal Stories Highlight the Destructive and Extreme Conservative Anti-abortion Agenda that is Banning Access to Care and Putting Lives at Risk
Washington, D.C — Today, Donald Trump announced that abortion laws should be “left up to the states,” teeing up the next step in his and extremist Republicans’ plan to ban abortion and restrict reproductive freedom at the state-level after Supreme Court judges he selected helped overturn federal abortion protections.
Since Supreme Court Justices appointed by Former President Trump repealed the abortion protections of Roe 22 states across the country have banned abortion.
Because of this extremist plan, Women, families, and pregnant people have been forced to live with a dangerous new health care reality created by Conservative-led attacks on abortion care, medication abortion, access to contraception, and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
This is just another step in extremist Conservatives’ multi-pronged plan to ban abortion nationwide – whether in a single sweeping piece of legislation, or through a state-by-state assault on abortion rights.
“Donald Trump just took the next step in his plan to make it harder for women to receive an abortion when they need one. With access to medication abortion, IVF, and access to abortion care in emergency settings all at risk, it’s clear that Conservatives, led by Donald Trump, will not stop until they’ve achieved their goal of a nationwide abortion ban,” said Free & Just Campaign Director Veronica Ingham.
In response to Donald Trump’s statement, Free & Just is sharing stories from advocates that highlight the health risks and impacts of the state laws that ban and restrict access to abortion.
“Working under Georgia’s extreme six-week abortion ban has been devastating,” said Suki O, an ultrasound tech in Georgia for over 20 years. “I have had to console crying women in my office, including those who have been sexually assaulted, who have received a fatal fetal diagnosis, or who aren’t ready to be parents, after telling them I cannot provide them with the care they desperately want and need. Abortion bans harm patients’ health and put providers in impossible positions – that’s why people across the country are rejecting attacks on our reproductive freedom.”
“The decision to have an abortion saved my life, and I know the consequences firsthand of removing access to abortion services,” said Emma Burns, a recent graduate of Northern Arizona University living in Flagstaff, Arizona, who received a medication abortion while she was a college student. “Attacks on abortion care, like what we’re facing in Arizona, strip people of the agency over their bodies and their futures. I want these candidates to understand that everyone should have the freedom to make the best decisions for their lives and their futures.”
In the Louisiana Illuminator, Kaitlyn Joshua describes how she feels being pregnant as a Black woman in Louisiana under the state’s abortion ban: “I no longer feel safe being pregnant in Louisiana. Not as a Black woman who received inadequate and delayed medical care while enduring a painful miscarriage because of my home state’s abortion ban … The effects of overturning Roe v. Wade have made pregnancy an even more dangerous experience for women in Louisiana, and it’s terrifying to consider how much worse our reality can become if Republicans enact a national abortion ban.”
In the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Dr. Kristin Lyerly describes benign a physician in a state with an extreme abortion ban post-Dobbs: “Since Wisconsin’s near-total ban on abortion was reinstated after the fall of Roe, I have witnessed how dangerous and heartbreaking it is for my patients when politics interferes with my ability to do my job and prevents me from providing the full spectrum of abortion care that I once could. I have counseled patients on family planning throughout my career and understand abortion as both a deeply personal decision and medically necessary procedure that must be protected. People have abortions for various reasons, and all are choices they should have the freedom to make.”
If you would like to interview one of these storytellers for a story, please email maggie@freeandjust.us.
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About Free & Just
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.