Former congressman Beto O'Rourke vowed to join women in fighting for their reproductive rights.
"For so long, women have been leading this fight, shouldering the burden of making sure that their reproductive rights are protected. It is time all of us join them in this fight," he said.
O'Rourke then laid out his plan to ensure women's reproductive rights are protected if he's elected president.
This is his plan:
- "As president, I will make sure that every nominee to every federal bench including the Supreme Court understands and believes that the 1973 decision, Roe v. Wade, is the settled law of the land."
- "As president, I'll make sure that we do away with the gag rule which prevents providers from referring women to get the best reproductive health care that they can."
- "We'll do away with the Hyde Amendment, so that ensures regardless of your income or your zip code you are able to access a safe, legal abortion, and also the other services provided in family planning clinics, a cervical cancer screening, family planning help."
- "I will work with our partners in Congress to make sure that by statute we prevent states from taking away the right that every woman should enjoy, making her own decisions about her own body and having access to the health care that makes that possible."
Why this matters: Last week, Alabama enacted the strictest abortion law in the country. It would make abortion illegal in virtually all cases, including cases of rape and incest. And Georgia is one of the latest states to enact a so-called "heartbeat law," meaning virtually all abortions are illegal once a heartbeat is detected.
More than 50 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, participated today in #StopTheBans protests nationwide aimed at stopping a wave of other proposed anti-abortion legislation.
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