Members of Congress are blasting the Arizona Supreme Court for upholding a 19th-century abortion ban that they say threatens the lives of the most vulnerable: Black and brown women.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., told theGrio former President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement wants “to take us back to those days when women and people of color had no rights.”
U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., said the ruling is “horrible.” He told theGrio the “attack” on women in the United States is “disgusting.”
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said the ban, which outlaws nearly all medical abortions, is “quite alarming.” She told theGrio, “I knew that when Roe v. Wade was overturned, Republicans were not going to stop taking away bodily autonomy from women.”
The Democratic lawmaker added that this is another example of Republicans wanting “control.”
Democratic Arizona State Senator Anna Hernandez told theGrio that she is “infuriated” by the decision because marginalized communities will be impacted the most.
“They don’t have the luxury of taking time off or the means to travel to” neighboring states like Nevada or California to seek abortion care, Hernandez noted.
On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law that makes it a felony punishable from two to five years for anyone who performs an abortion or helps a woman get one. The law also prohibits abortions from the time of conception unless the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother. However, the law excludes cases of incest and rape.
In a statement from the White House, President Joe Biden said that the ruling is a part of the “extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom.”
Hernandez said that the “government has no business in the healthcare decisions” and that “very extreme lawmakers … are only legislating for power and control.”
She noted that…
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