Demand Executive Action to Fight Forced Birth
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Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
President Biden:
The highly-partisan judicial activists on the Supreme Court are about to yank away half a century of the established right of all Americans to make their own decisions about planning their own families. Forced birth is an illegitimate use of state power and an international war crime, so we expect you to take forceful executive action, like offering abortion services on all federal land, and offering those services for free to bypass the outdated Hyde Amendment.
Senators:
We strongly supported your letter of June 7 urging President Biden to use his executive authority to protect the right to abortion. This week we are urging you to oppose the atrocity of forcing people to give birth against their will with even bolder action: offering abortion services on federal land, for free, to bypass the oppressive Hyde Amendment.
Background
Republicans have campaigned against abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. It inflamed the passion of voters and drove them to the polls, which Republicans were happy to take advantage of even when the sentiment turned violent. We suspect some Democratic legislators believe that the Supreme Court overturning Roe will have a similarly galvanizing effect on voters in the 2022 midterms, which may be why they have hesitated to demand the boldest possible executive action to protect abortion rights.
Last week we stood in support of a June 7 letter from 25 Democratic Senators suggesting a number of immediate executive actions for President Biden to take to protect abortion rights (linked in the references below).
This week, we have dared to dream bigger, of a post-January 6, 2021 world in which all Democrats realize that anything they do in defense of reproductive justice would be only a fraction as radical as what Republicans tried to do to deprive us of liberty last year. Forced pregnancy is an illegitimate use of state power, an atrocity, and an international war crime – so we’re advocating executive action to offer abortion services on federal land. When the word "federal" is mentioned in the same sentence as abortion, Republicans raise the specter of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits Medicaid and other healthcare program funding from being used to pay for abortion care, except in cases of rape or incest – but Hyde does not apply to services being provided on federal land free of charge. It would be vastly preferable to the national health emergency that would result from 26 states requiring people to carry a pregnancy to term against their will. (Read more about this in the references below.)
As Elie Mystal says:
The point of all of these suggestions is that Biden and the Democrats should use power maximally while they have it to prevent the atrocity of people being forced to give birth against their will. The argument that executive inaction is not only justified but required by a 1976 budget rider is intellectually dishonest, and literal evidence that one doesn’t perceive forced birth as a fundamentally illegitimate use of state power.
More Immediate Ways to Support People Seeking Abortions:
Clinics across the country are either facing legal challenges in their own states or seeing an influx of patients from other states – or both. Pick one and make a donation, offer to volunteer if you’re nearby, or ask how else you can help.
Abortion Access Front maintains an Adopt-a-Clinic list where you can see a clinic’s Amazon wish list and send something it needs, from office supplies to cozy socks for patients.
Support abortion funds. There are grassroots organizations all over the country that help people pay for abortion care and everything it takes to access it, like child care or transportation. Spread the word that they exist, and if you can, donate to a fund in a state that’s restricting abortion access or one in a state that people are traveling to for care they can’t get at home.
Meet patients’ immediate needs (like a ride, a safe place to stay, or gas money) by volunteering with your local abortion fund or practical support group.
Learn about and share information about at-home use of medication abortion.
References
Bracing for the End of Roe v. Wade, the White House Weighs Executive Actions - The New York Times
Forced Pregnancy: A Commentary on the Crime in International Criminal Law, Amnesty International
The Hyde Amendment Is Not an Excuse to Do Nothing to Protect Abortion Rights | The Nation, Elie Mystal, 3/12/22
What Can Democrats Do to Fight Texas's Abortion Ban? Lots. | The Nation, Elie Mystal, 9/02/21
Support for abortion rights hits new high as midterm outlook is grim for Democrats, NBC News, May 15, 2022
The power and limits of using executive orders to protect abortion rights, Vox, June 11, 2022
The movement against abortion rights is nearing its apex. But it began way before Roe, NPR, 5/04/22