Last week, the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to abortion.
In my view, this decision was deeply flawed and dangerous and way out-of-touch with where the American people are. It is hard to believe that in the year 2022, six justices could make the reactionary and outrageous assertion that more than half of the population of our country does not have the right to control their own bodies and their own destinies.
Let me be as clear as I can be.
The decision to get an abortion is a personal one. It is not up to the government or extremist politicians who want to control women's bodies and reproductive health. It’s not up to those reactionary elements in our society who, once again, want to reduce the women of our country to second-class citizens.
It is no exaggeration to say that the consequences of this decision will be deadly, and will threaten the very lives of women. The reality is that banning legal, medically-assisted abortion will force people to seek out risky, unsafe care. It will force women to delay lifesaving medical care like chemotherapy or continue unsafe pregnancies that could literally kill them. In a country with already unacceptably high levels of maternal mortality, even more women will die during childbirth or live the rest of their lives with dangerous health conditions caused by unsafe pregnancies, labor, and delivery.
And what really gets to me about this issue is the absolute hypocrisy of many of my Senate colleagues. Every day I hear right-wing senators rant about the need for “small government,” about “getting the government off the backs of the people,” about “ending regulations,” about “letting people do what they want!"
Yet, when it comes to women throughout this country having the right to make this very personal decision, their view is that women do not deserve this right. Their view is that the government should make it for them, that the government should decide what is best for every woman, every couple, and every family in this country.
And by the way, I know that many people see abortion rights as a so-called "women's issue." I do not. This is a human rights issue.
Overturning Roe v. Wade is in absolute defiance of what the American people want, and should be rectified by Congress as soon as possible. That is why I am urgently calling on Democrats to end the filibuster in the Senate, codify Roe v. Wade into federal law, and once again make abortion legal and safe. And if there are Democrats in the Senate who are not prepared to codify Roe v. Wade, let them come forward and show their constituents where they stand. That’s called democracy.
From the time of the Roe v. Wade decision nearly 50 years ago, right-wing politicians in state after state have done everything in their power to try to reverse the decision and undermine access to abortion for millions of women across the country.
They've done it by passing legislation to restrict or ban abortion and restrict insurance coverage of abortion.
They've done it with the Hyde Amendment which unfairly prevents low-income women from having abortion covered by Medicaid, as well as women in the military covered by Tricare.
They’ve done it by attacking Planned Parenthood and shutting down clinics that provide comprehensive primary health care services.
They’ve done it by intimidating women who need to access these clinics and the doctors and staff who work there.
They’ve done it by passing targeted restrictions on health care centers – often including medically unnecessary regulations – with the goal of shutting down abortion providers that are unable to comply.
They’ve done it by making women travel extremely long distances to access abortion, or forcing them to wait weeks for an appointment.
And now, the Supreme Court has overturned the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade, which granted women the fundamental right to make decisions about their own bodies, their safety and their futures.
We simply cannot go back to the days when women had to risk their lives in order to end an unwanted pregnancy.
The right to abortion must remain the law of the land. So I hope you will join me in calling on the Senate to end the filibuster and codify Roe v. Wade into federal law.
Please add your name:
It is time to end the decades-long assault on abortion rights.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders
PO BOX 391, Burlington, VT 05402
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