Ahead of Trump’s Address, Senator Patty Murray, Former Rep. Colin Allred, and Guests Who Attended 2024 State of the Union Spotlight Vicious New Attacks on Abortion Access and Reproductive Freedom
WASHINGTON, DC –– Today, ahead of President Trump’s joint address to Congress, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and former Rep. Colin Allred joined Free & Just, patients, providers, and advocates who attended last year’s State of the Union as honored guests to set the record straight about how the Trump administration and extremists' efforts to ban abortion nationwide are putting lives at risk.
Abortion bans are killing women and devastating communities across the country. Still, the Trump administration and Republican officials remain committed to banning abortion nationwide, and they will use any tool at their disposal to do it – even though restricting abortion access remains widely unpopular with most Americans.
“It is painfully clear today that we have to continue shining a harsh spotlight on the impacts of abortion bans,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington. “While Trump and Republicans would love for the chaos they are causing to push these stories out of the public eye, today there are even more women suffering and dying because of Republican’s extreme abortion bans. It may be the early days of this administration, but it is not too early to see that they are hellbent on ripping away women’s reproductive rights.”
“Within days of Trump taking office, he rescinded President Biden’s executive orders that protect reproductive health care, he wiped essential information about these health care services from government websites, and he nominated a slew of anti-abortion extremists,” said Kayla Smith, a patient storyteller who joined Senator Murray as an honored guest at the State of the Union one year ago. “I am here today to do my part. I will continue to speak out about what is going on and how important access to abortion care really is,” Smith, who was forced to flee the state of Idaho for lifesaving abortion care, is one of three plaintiffs in Adkins v. State of Idaho, a case challenging the state’s extreme abortion ban.
“The ‘state of the union’ has a crisis in the middle of it. Women all across this country are being denied basic health care, and families are being forced into impossible positions," said former Congressman Colin Allred from Dallas. “Here in Texas, it’s not uncommon to meet an expecting couple and congratulate them only to hear that they are worried that if something goes wrong with the pregnancy, they don’t know what they’ll do.”
“We knew that because of the abortion bans, IVF could be affected, but we never thought it would affect us,” said Latorya Beasley, a mother and IVF patient from Alabama who was forced to adjust her treatment timeline after the state’s Supreme Court’s devastating ruling on embryos. “Even today, Trump has said that he wants to expand access to IVF, but it’s just a lot of broken promises, and I don’t think there’s anything substantial behind that. I am here today to tell my story and warn others.”
“As a physician, my highest priority and my deepest honor is to take care of my patients. And I feel like that has been broken in so many ways and is only getting worse,” said Dr, Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN from Indiana who spoke publicly about providing abortion care to a 10 year old patient. “The question we have now is, what are we going to do about it? What are we going to do to reverse these policies now before things get worse? How many more people do we have to see on the news dying, taken away from their children and families?”
“Let me be clear, President Trump may claim he’s protecting women but all that his policies have done is harm us. He will undoubtedly continue to enact policies that will kill women and devastate families,” said Amanda Zurawski, who nearly lost her life after being denied abortion care in Texas. “While we are devastated, we will not be defeated. As long as these inhumane bans exist, we will continue to fight back.” Zurawski was the lead plaintiff in Zurawski v. State of Texas, the landmark lawsuit challenging Texas’ extreme abortion ban.
If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us.
You can watch the virtual press event here, and learn more about how Republican officials are restricting reproductive freedom here.
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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.