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Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Slate of Reproductive Freedom Champions for the U.S. House and Senate
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Contact: [email protected]
Washington, DC — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced its endorsement of 20 incumbents running for reelection in the 2022 midterm election for seats in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. These Congressional incumbents are distinguished champions in the fight for reproductive freedom.
NARAL Pro-Choice America Acting President Adrienne Kimmell released the following statement in response:
“We are proud to endorse these outstanding reproductive freedom champions at a time when our freedom to decide is under attack like never before. We know that these champions will fight to ensure we all have the freedom to decide if, when, and how to start or grow a family and tirelessly speak out against anti-choice politicians seeking to control, strip away access to abortion care, and criminalize pregnant people.
With the Supreme Court’s anti-choice supermajority poised to weigh in on a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, Congress is a critical line of defense in safeguarding our legal right to access abortion care. Now, more than ever, we need our leaders in Congress to take bold action to advance reproductive freedom. We look forward to working with these champions to ensure every body has the freedom to make important decisions about their health, lives, families, and futures.”
Endorsed Senators:
- Sen. Richard Blumenthal (CT)
- Sen. Tammy Duckworth (IL)
- Sen. Patty Murray (WA)
Endorsed Representatives:
- Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12)
- Rep. Ami Bera (CA-07)
- Rep. Cori Bush (MO-01)
- Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27)
- Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03)
- Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-21)
- Rep. Jahana Hayes (CT-05)
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
- Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13)
- Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY-10)
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)
- Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
- Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-14)
- Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10)
- Rep. Norma Torres (CA-35)
- Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14)
- Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-5)
These endorsements come on the heels of an unprecedented number of attacks on reproductive freedom and abortion access this year. Anti-choice, anti-freedom lawmakers have ramped up their blatantly unconstitutional attacks on abortion access in hopes of overturning Roe. They have even gone so far as to advance legislation criminalizing pregnant people and doctors who provide abortion care. So far in 2021, anti-choice lawmakers have already introduced, advanced, or passed more than 315 bills attacking abortion access. In 2021, over 90 restrictions on abortion access have been enacted at the state level, making this the worst year for abortion rights since the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.
Efforts to overturn Roe and criminalize abortion care are wildly out of touch with the values of the vast majority of people (77%) who believe that abortion should be legal. Restrictions and bans on abortion care block or push access out of reach for many. These burdens disproportionately fall on those already facing the most significant barriers to accessing care due to systemic racism and inequities, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, and other people of color, those working to make ends meet, members of the LGBTQ community, immigrants, young people, those living in rural communities, and people with disabilities.
In the midst of the anti-choice movement’s unrelenting attacks on access to abortion care, the U.S. Supreme Court announced in May that it will hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—a direct challenge to Roe that violates nearly 50 years of Supreme Court precedent. If Roe fell tomorrow, 24 states would likely take action to ban abortion outright. Twelve states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion immediately if Roe is overturned.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters have fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom—including access to abortion, contraception, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 7 in 10 Americans who believe every person should have the freedom to make the best decision for themselves about if, when, and how to raise a family.