Abortion

Living a safe and healthy life is a basic right – as is the freedom to define our own path.

We aren’t truly free if we cannot make our own decisions about our bodies, our lives, and our futures—whether that is saying no to unwanted sexual advances, no to an unintended pregnancy, or yes to becoming a parent. When someone decides to have an abortion, it should be safe, affordable, and free from punishment or judgment. The decision about whether and when to become a parent is one of the most important life decisions we make. When people can make decisions that are best for their lives, families thrive and we build communities where each of us can participate with dignity.

Across the country, anti-abortion politicians have been working to push abortion care out of reach or ban it outright.

Extremists in the Florida Legislature pass medically unnecessary and politically-motivated restrictions, creating a web of barriers that push safe and affordable abortion care out of reach, especially for poor women, young people, and people of color.  They try to pass laws that force health care providers to lie to patients; force women to go to multiple, medically unnecessary appointments;  and require patients to undergo medically unnecessary and sometimes invasive procedures. Laws that require tougher building standards for abortion providers than other health providers are a blatant attempt to cause clinics to close.

Forcing someone to carry a pregnancy can have devastating and lasting consequences for a woman and her family. Studies show a woman who is denied abortion care is more likely to fall into poverty than a woman who receives the care she needs. After being denied an abortion, a woman has three times greater odds of being unemployed than a woman who was able to obtain abortion care. On the other hand, women who are able to get abortion care, compared to those who are denied, are six times more likely to have positive life plans and to achieve them.