“If past is prologue, we could see a number of congressional attacks targeted not just to Planned Parenthood but that will compromise the sustainability of the entire family planning safety net,” said Audrey Sandusky, director of advocacy and communications for the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.
The bill's vague language could have prevented public universities from buying fetal tissue from suppliers who obtain it from those who donated it after having abortions, even if the researchers paid only a processing fee.
“Representative Haugaard’s statement is not only erroneous, but irrelevant to the bill that was under deliberation," said Samantha Spawn, interim executive director for NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota.
"The reality is that defunding us only hurts people—especially the people who are already the most vulnerable," said Tayler Tucker of Planned Parenthood of Arizona. "It's still too revolutionary of an idea for a woman to own her own body."
The low-wage, often no-benefits work common in the food-service industry compromises laborers' ability to plan or provide for their families, get abortion care, and afford other health services. It's especially difficult for undocumented immigrant workers to advocate for their rights.
This group of pro-choice activists showed up on Saturday because we are tired of these so-called crisis pregnancy centers that continue to lie and shame women and families making important reproductive health-care decisions.
"White Republican legislators are disingenuous," said Cherisse Scott, CEO and founder of SisterReach, a reproductive justice advocacy organization. "They do not care about (people of color's) babies or our lives because our voices and lived experiences are not centered in their decision making or policy crafting."
