Friend,

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, 14 states have passed full abortion bans. In these 14 states, the bans specify that an exception can only be made if there is a risk to the life of the mother or in the case of rape or incest.

55% of Americans polled believe abortion should be legal under any circumstance. And an additional 34% of Americans believe abortion should be legal under only certain circumstances. To this group, these exceptions have created a fallacy of relief. People think that the lives and health of women in these states are still protected. Let me be crystal clear: they are not. 

Dozens of women from these states are coming forward – telling story after story of denied medical care as pregnancy complications risked their and their babies’ lives. Alongside those women, the friends and families of those who have died of complications related to their pregnancies have come forward to tell the stories those women no longer can. These women’s states had health exceptions on the books, but these women were denied access to medically-needed abortions.

On top of the likely hundreds, if not thousands, of women who have been put at risk by these bans, exceptions for rape have not proven to be successful either. An estimated 68,000 more women have had to keep pregnancies caused by rape since Roe was overturned. Meanwhile, many of the vast majority of Americans (86%) who support these exceptions remain naive to reality.

To every single person who believes there is a case or circumstance that should allow access to a legal abortion, know this: 

The only way to guarantee access to safe and legal abortion, no matter the case, is through federal abortion protection.

Every Democrat in Congress agrees – but we don’t have the votes to pass it.

This year, this election, we can protect women's reproductive rights by electing Democrats to take back the House majority, hold the Senate, and re-elect Joe Biden.

There is so much on the line this year, but with a strong Democratic majority in Congress, we can take fundamental steps to take back women’s rights in this country and build a promising future for all. 

Nydia