Republicans are more united than they have been in years on a national strategy to roll back abortion rights, using state legislatures and the new GOP Congress to push for banning the procedure after 20 weeks of pregnancy — a platform that also has the backing of the party’s presidential candidates.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Republicans kicked off their first day in control of the US Congress this week by moving to ban all abortions after 20 weeks, first in the House and very soon in the Senate. The House already passed this back in 2013 – with exactly zero exceptions for women’s health, or rape or incest that hadn’t been reported to police. But I must admit to being slightly confused: Why is the GOP trying to ban later abortions when they’re doing such a stellar job forcing women to get them?
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, which discovered 11,000 untested rape kits in a Detroit police storage unit five years ago, announced Tuesday that it has teamed up with two nonprofits to raise $10 million to pay for the testing, investigation and prosecution of those unsolved rape cases.
Three-quarters of voters polled not only support abortion access but strongly link it to a woman’s financial stability and equality. Additionally, voters are more likely to vote for elected officials who support such policies. This is not a surprise to any who works in the reproductive rights and justice movement. Access to reproductive care is about the economy, stupid.
The country still doesn’t have a federal law. But in the intervening decade, 15 laws have been passed at the city and state level. Workers who live in those places can now rest assured that they can take off of work if they get sick and not have to miss a day’s pay — or even risk their jobs entirely.