Friend,
This email is longer than usual, and at the end of it, I’m going to ask for your donation to help me defend and expand our pro-choice Senate majority.
But first, I need to tell you about the most important abortion rights case in Supreme Court history not named Roe — and how 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey radicalized the anti-choice movement for decades.
Here is the truth:
In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that every woman has a right to choose whether or not to have an abortion due to the 14th Amendment’s right to privacy. To account for state interests, it divided the pregnancy period into three trimesters.
In the first trimester, state governments were banned from implementing any regulations on a women’s decision to have an abortion. In the second trimester, it allowed states to implement regulations but banned the outlawing of abortions entirely. And in the third trimester, it granted states the authority to regulate and outlaw abortion, except in cases to preserve the mother’s life.
This landmark ruling became the law and consequently forced over 45 states to revise their laws on abortion.
For 20 years, a growing anti-choice wing of the Republican Party tried to see how far they could push this precedent — just as many states are today. In 1992, they finally got the challenge they wanted when Planned Parenthood v. Casey went before the Supreme Court.
After twelve consecutive years of Republican presidents, the Court was much further to the right-wing than the 7-2 Court that decided Roe.
Think of all the ridiculous barriers women seeking abortion face today. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the average distance a woman will have to travel in Texas for an abortion has grown from 12 miles to 240 miles as a result of state regulations.
Casey is where these regulations come from.
In Casey, the Court upheld some regulations in the first trimester — despite their clear unconstitutionality under Roe.
Casey substantially weakened Roe by allowing regulations that made abortion a privilege instead of a right. The “undue burden” standard penned by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that an undue burden has “the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion.” It created a dangerous precedent that states can chip away at Roe’s protections by enacting additional restrictions.
What is a “substantial obstacle”? A day off work, an extra tank of gas, a multi-night stay at a hotel? For low-income women, these can make obtaining an abortion virtually impossible.
Casey was the conservatives’ first successful attack at weakening Roe v. Wade.
Fast forward to 2016, in the landmark case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, when the Supreme Court ruled two abortion restrictions implemented in Texas unconstitutional.
This case rectified the false notion that the medically unnecessary and onerous restrictions enacted by Republican lawmakers made abortion “safer.” Instead, it demonstrated that these restrictions place an “undue burden” on women’s constitutional right to seek an abortion.
It was a tremendous win for reproductive justice, but unfortunately, it was short-lived due to Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell’s determination to stack the Supreme Court with conservative justices.
By appointing three new right-wing justices, Donald Trump left the Supreme Court in a prime position to reverse Roe v. Wade. With the Court upholding the most recent abortion ban enacted in Texas, it’s clear which way the majority of justices will sway when this landmark ruling goes before the Court.
As the only member of Congress who’s worked at Planned Parenthood, I’m determined to do everything in my power to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act to codify Roe v. Wade once and for all, putting an end to the absurd undue burdens that Republicans are forcing upon women seeking abortions in states across the country.
But in order to do that, we need to expand our Democratic Senate majority so we can abolish the filibuster, expand the Supreme Court, and finally establish abortion rights and reproductive freedom in federal law, once and for all.
Friend, I’m humbly asking for your support — can you chip in right now to help me keep fighting for abortion rights in the Senate and expand our pro-choice majority?
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This fight is personal to me. I know it is for many of you too. And that’s why it means so much to have you on my side as a part of this grassroots team. Thank you.
Thank you for all that you do.
— Tina
