Fearful of a future where Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion rights activists have announced a three-prong plan to guarantee access to abortion in what one supporter labeled an “abortion underground railroad.”
The “Care For All” plan announced by Planned Parenthood Action notes that there are “13 abortion-related cases that are just one step away from the Supreme Court” and that “20 states are poised to ban abortion should Roe v. Wade be overturned.”
If the issue of abortion is tossed back to the states, Planned Parenthood wants to ensure that abortion in the states where it remains legal is as accessible as possible. Writer Amanda Marcotte at Salon.com called it an “abortion underground railroad,” referencing the network of locations in the 1800s where slaves could hide out and make their way to freedom.
The Planned Parenthood plan, first reported by Limestone’s, involves three prongs:
- Expanding services in states where abortion is likely to remain legal.Planned Parenthood also will invest in “technology and other resources to help people living in hostile states access [to] abortion, no matter what.” From Planned Parenthood’s perspective, this will allow women in other states quick access to abortions when they cross state lines. The plan also seeks to use telemedicine, in which doctors give prescriptions to patients in others states for abortion drugs, which would be mailed.
- Working to pass laws supporting abortion rights.“We’ll partner with state advocates and coalition partners to determine how we can use state policies to ensure there’s an ironclad network of states across the country where abortion will still be legal.”
- Changing the culture.“We’ll be fighting abortion restrictions at their source: the stigma that still surrounds abortion in this country,” the plan says. “We’ll be enhancing our efforts to destigmatize abortion in the media and across popular culture — including working with the music, fashion, movie, and television industries, and announcing additional public awareness campaigns in the coming months.”
Abortion rights activists believe Roe will be overturned, Marcotte wrote.
“Despite whatever lies Sen. Susan Collins had to tell herself to justify voting yes on Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, most legal experts and reproductive health care advocates expect that Roe v. Wade will either be overturned or functionally gutted within the next two years,” Marcotte wrote.
Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com.
Photo courtesy: Artem Kovalev/Unsplash
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