|
|
We don’t tell stories like this often, folks, but I think we should.
I can remember it like it was yesterday. We were sitting on the couch watching TV when she suddenly screamed out in pain, crying “Something’s wrong!” Panicked, we rushed to the hospital where we learned she was suffering an ectopic pregnancy.
They immediately took her in to administer an abortion. If they hadn’t, she would have died.
I am grateful every single day that we lived in a state where abortion was legal and easily accessible. But that’s no longer the world we live in after our corrupt high court struck down Roe last year.
And it’s about to get worse – because right now women are fighting for their lives and their rights in court.
A 31-year-old Texas mother of two named Kate Cox learned, at her 20-week check-up, that her agonizing pain stemmed from a fatal chromosomal anomaly called trisomy 18.
For weeks she was bandied about in the courts, where various judges with zero medical background casually debated whether or not Kate actually needed an abortion.
Seriously, this makes my blood BOIL. If that had happened to my ex-wife and me, she would have died. Full stop.
Kate was forced to flee the state to get the abortion care she needed before her life was too much at risk to travel.
But Kate Cox is not alone. A few days ago, a lawsuit filed by an anonymous, pregnant “Jane Doe” in Kentucky seeks to have Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban declared unconstitutional under the state Constitution.
If you’re reading this email from Washington or any other state where women still get to make their own healthcare decisions, you may be breathing a sigh of relief. But there’s more.
1. SCOTUS just agreed to take up the mifepristone case.
Mifepristone is one of the FDA-approved medications needed to perform safe, medical abortions. For over 20 years this medication has not only been used to safely terminate early pregnancies, it has also been a life-saving treatment for multiple medical conditions – including miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.
Now a right-wing group wants to ban the drug, and if SCOTUS agrees it will instantly compromise medical abortions in EVERY state.
2. Republicans are drooling for the chance to pass a national abortion ban.
Whichever way the mifepristone case turns out, Congressional Republicans have made NO secret that they want a federal ban on abortion.
So who’s going to stop them? The Democrats?
Democrats never made reproductive freedom a priority, and now women are reduced to begging judges for an abortion and hope they get one in time. I’m running for Congress because – between the climate crisis, the healthcare crisis, Israel’s genocide in Gaza and America’s endless militarism – lives are on the line right now.
|
|
There is no room for compromise on this. Either you believe we have the right to bodily autonomy, or you do not. I do.
Democrats had 50 years to codify Roe, including 24 years in which they controlled both the House and Senate – or the 9 years they controlled both Congress and the White House.
I ran against Rick Larsen as a Democrat previously, and we came VERY close to getting past the primary both times. This year I’m challenging Larsen as the Green Party nominee.
When I win this seat it will actually be easier to stop Republicans from pushing a federal ban – here’s why.
Larsen has been in Congress for HALF the time that Roe remained in place. Apart from campaign lip service, he never pushed for legislation to guarantee abortion rights. Larsen has a history of caucusing with Republicans on social welfare issues like gutting Social Security.
This very progressive seat is occupied by one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress. No Republican has ANY shot at winning in WA-02.
Solidarity,
Jason Call |
|
|
|||
