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Dear Friend,
Three years ago today, the United States Supreme Court Dobbs decision disastrously stripped away federal protections for abortion. Since then, total abortion bans or severe restrictions have been put into place in nearly half of the states and have contributed to the deaths of many mothers.[1,2 3,4] Now, if passed, the Republican's Big Bad Betrayal Bill in the Senate will undoubtedly cause even more devastation to maternal health.
It is difficult to overstate how important Medicaid, which is on the Republican chopping block, is to maternal health. Medicaid covers over 40% of births in the U.S., including nearly 50% of births in rural communities. It also provides vital prenatal and postpartum care for women across the country. The truth is that many rural hospitals depend on the dollars brought in by Medicaid. In fact, over 300 rural hospitals are at risk of immediate closure if the cuts are implemented, making a bad situation even more dangerous for rural moms.[5]
Click here to urge your Senators to vote no on this bill which puts mothers' lives at risk.
Republicans are prioritizing their personal beliefs over our ability to control our own medical decisions, bodies, and futures by working to ban abortions, even in states like Missouri where the people voted to protect access to abortion.[6]
Now, they are also attacking science by threatening access to the FDA-approved medication mifepristone, which is used both in miscarriage and abortion care, and has been used safely for 25 years by more than 6 million women in the United States.[7]
To make matters even worse, the Republican's Big Bad Betrayal Bill aims to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood health centers where, every year, more than 2 million people go for essential health care services, like birth control, lifesaving cancer screenings, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections. Over half of Planned Parenthood patients are covered by publicly funded programs, like Medicaid.[8]
We need everyone who is a mom or has ever had a mom in this fight to protect moms and babies!
--Gina, Tina, Monifa, and the entire MomsRising.org team
P.S.– We must make sure that moms' voices, in particular, are heard and so we urge you to share your story about how Medicaid (or another publicly-funded program) helped you during pregnancy or in the postpartum period.
References:
[1] Abortion in the United States Dashboard
[2] Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.
[3] Afraid to Seek Care Amid Georgia’s Abortion Ban, She Stayed at Home and Died
[4] A Woman Died After Being Told It Would Be a “Crime” to Intervene in Her Miscarriage at a Texas Hospital
[5] UNC data finds ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ puts 300-plus rural hospitals at risk of closure
[6] Voters Ended This State’s Abortion Ban. Then Conservative Judges Got Involved.
[7] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-review-mifepristone-abortion-pill-access/
[8] Medicaid and Reproductive Health
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