THREAD:
With all the lies being used in tonight's #SOTU to twist NY and VA’s legislation to protect abortion, it’s important to know what these laws actually do.
The NY law simply removes abortion from the criminal code, solidifies Roe v. Wade in state law, and allows patients who need abortion after 24 weeks to get care in their home state rather than travel across the country. #SOTU
The VA law would end the 24-hour waiting period for abortion patients, remove the state-mandated ultrasound, and require one doctor—instead of three—to approve a request for a third-trimester abortion. #SOTU
#BREAKING: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) announced that the Senate will vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act (#WHPA) on February 28. 👏 #WHPA is federal legislation that would protect the right to abortion. #ActForAbortionAccess
This historic vote will be the first time the Senate votes on standalone legislation to enshrine the right to abortion in federal law. We applaud @SenSchumer for taking this important step and the Senators who have championed this bill for years. 👏👏👏
A statement from Nancy Northup, Center CEO: “We are thrilled that the Senate is addressing the urgent need to protect abortion access across the nation. The Supreme Court has failed to stop the Texas abortion ban and is entertaining Mississippi’s quest to overturn Roe v. Wade...”
Good news alert! The FDA has announced it will take important steps to expand access to medication abortion care. 👏👏👏 It will permanently lift some of the medically unnecessary and harmful restrictions on mifepristone, a medication used for early abortion and miscarriage care.
Permanently lifting in-person dispensing requirements makes a huge difference for patients, including rural folks, people of color, and those working to make ends meet. This allows more people to access #MedAbortionIRL in ways that work best for them.
While this is a major step forward for abortion access, more needs to be done.
🚨OVER 100 DAYS🚨 That is how long most Texans have been without access to abortion care.
And just last week, #SCOTUS failed to put a stop to the state’s egregious abortion law, #SB8.
Here are the facts ⬇️
❗The average one-way driving distance for a Texan seeking an abortion is estimated to have increased by nearly 240 miles, a 14-fold increase.
❗A Denver abortion clinic saw a 520% increase in patients traveling from Texas following the enforcement of #SB8 in September. And just nine days after the law’s implementation the Oklahoma City @TrustWomen clinic had a significant increase in appointments from Texans.
🚨 #SCOTUS BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Supreme Court has endorsed Texas's bounty hunting scheme in a case challenging Texas's abortion ban, #SB8.
While allowing the case to move forward on narrow grounds, the Court has NOT blocked the law, meaning abortion remains mostly inaccessible in TX. #BansOffOurBodies#AbortionIsEssential
In our case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, #SCOTUS once again failed to block Texas’s draconian abortion ban, which has decimated access in the state for the last 100 DAYS.
🚨HAPPENING NOW: We are rallying for EVERY person's right to access abortions outside the U.S. Supreme Court.
Follow along as lawmakers, advocates, and storytellers share why #AbortionIsEssential.
🔴 Watch the rally LIVE here:
And starting later this morning, listen as we present oral arguments before #SCOTUS in this critical case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: supremecourt.gov
#VICTORY: More than a decade after our client, Manuela, was unjustly sentenced to 30 years in prison for a crime she did not commit, she has justice. #ManuelaJusticiaYEsperanza
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights just announced a ruling in our case Manuela v. El Salvador, condemning the Salvadoran State for the arbitrary criminalization of our client Manuela, who attempted to access reproductive health services during an obstetric emergency.
In its ruling, the Court also deemed the country responsible for Manuela’s death while she was still a prisoner of the state from untreated Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Today we join her family in remembering Manuela and celebrating this long-awaited victory.