Today, the ACLU announced that there will a case before SCOTUS about Louisiana's draconian anti-abortion laws.
Against his own party's wishes, last May our Democratic governor Edwards signed legislation restricting abortions in this most Catholic of states. (source)
Women's hard-won rights are under attack. It is very possible that Roe v. Wade will be history in the next few years. Abortion is already out of reach for many poor women.(source)
There are MILLIONS of women affected by issues like abortion rights, and equal pay for equal work. About continuing discrimination in many different areas of life, including medical care. About medical care for pregnancies, miscarriages, and other problems women suffer. About refusal by police departments to store, maintain and test rape kits. About getting pregnant after brutal rapes, and about their rapists gaining parental rights to their children. While women's voices are finally being heard in protest against notorious rapists like Harvey Weinstein, all too often, women are still being intimidated into silence about the abuses they face.
We, the Green Party of Louisiana, support the rights of women to adequate medical care, including safe and legal abortions. The only person who has the right to determine whether or not a woman has an abortion is the woman herself.
Romi Elnagar, Co-chair, Green Party of Louisiana
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ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE A.C.L.U.
Our partners at the Center for Reproductive Rights will ask the Supreme Court to knock down a Louisiana abortion restriction designed to push abortion out of reach, known as a TRAP law. If the Court upholds the law, then the people in Louisiana will be left with just one abortion clinic in the whole state.
But this isn't just about access in Louisiana. The case is likely to affect abortion access in states throughout the country. And it's one of the biggest Supreme Court cases of the year.
Here's what you need to know:
Politicians are assaulting our abortion rights in multiple ways. Some states are passing near-total bans and we have challenged and blocked five of those laws, including the ones in Alabama and Georgia, in just the last year. But there is another sneakier way that politicians are trying to push abortion care out of reach. That is by passing medically unnecessary restrictions like the Louisiana law that apply only to abortion providers and not to medical professionals performing comparable care. Their sole purpose is to force clinics to close.
Louisiana's law is virtually identical to a Texas law the Supreme Court struck down just 4 years ago. But now Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch are on the Supreme Court, and opponents are betting that this change will mean that the Court will allow Louisiana to shut down the clinics and give states the green light to further erode access to care.
It's scary, I know. But we've been preparing for this moment.
We filed an amicus brief in support of the clinics and doctors challenging the Louisiana law. We're mobilizing on the ground in D.C. and New Orleans today with thousands of activists like you. We're pushing through measures to increase access to abortion and reproductive health care in the states wherever possible. And we'll continue to remind Congress that politicians should not be interfering in our decision-making by demanding legislation like the Women's Health Protection Act.
We'll keep you updated on the latest and how you can stay involved in this fight for reproductive freedom. Thanks for all you do to help defend our abortion rights – today and every day.
In solidarity,
Jennifer Dalven
Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project
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