(film reel clattering) - Welcome to EMS' weekly national news conference.

I'm Sunita Sohrabji, health editor at Ethnic Media Services, and I will be your moderator for today's news briefing.

[background music] Almost 2/3 of women seeking abortions come from communities of color, and this is a data point that's often overlooked in the conversation around a woman's right to choose, and I think it's a very important data point.

Our speakers this week will discuss the role reproductive rights played in the outcomes of the 2022 midterm election, how reproductive rights are factoring into state politics, candidates' platforms and voters' decisions, and they will discuss whether women will be the deciding force in the 2024 election cycle.

We welcome our panelists: Lupe Rodriguez, who is the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice; Angela Vasquez-Giroux, vice president of communications and research at NARAL Pro-Choice America; [background music fades] Ebony Baylor, who is the vice president of government affairs at In Our Own Voice: Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda.

And now, we begin today's discussion with Angela Vasquez-Giroux.

Welcome, Angela.

- Thank you so much for having me.

I'm very happy to be here.

I will just-- - [Sunita] Please go ahead.

- Thank you.

I'll just jump right in here.

Again, I'm Angela Vasquez-Giroux, the vice president of communications and research at NARAL Pro-Choice America.

At NARAL, we are committed to fighting for reproductive freedom and abortion access, and we believe that everybody, no matter who they are or where they live, should be able to make their own decisions about their lives, bodies, and futures.

We represent the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion, and we work side-by-side with our four million members from every state in the country to make change happen.

That means organizing and mobilizing people in their communities to elect leaders who will fight for our rights, working to enact policies that expand reproductive freedom, and fighting back against anti-choice extremism.

This work is more urgent than ever.

Thanks to a Republican Party hell-bent on enacting an extremist agenda, millions of Americans are facing the reality of life without access to abortion care as these bans put their lives and health in danger.

Right now, 17 states and counting are enforcing bans on abortion, and anti-choice lawmakers and state legislatures are chomping at the bit to pass even more.

In some cases, these bans cause doctors and hospitals to delay critical care like miscarriage management and cancer treatment.

In other cases, pregnant people are forced to travel to other states, sometimes hundreds of miles for the care they need, but we know that for far too many, traveling across states is simply out of reach.

Finding child care, paying for gas and expensive hotels and taking days off from work can be barriers too high to overcome.

We know these attacks have discriminatory consequences, most harming people from historically oppressed communities including women, communities of color, those working to make ends meet, the LGBT community, and others.

Bans on abortion increase the barriers to care that these communities already face.

The state of abortion access in our country is, in one word, grim, but there is reason for hope.

During the midterm elections, voters in red, blue, and purple states all across the country and especially women and young people rejected these blatant attacks on our rights and freedoms.

Because of them, we saw historic wins during these elections.

From Michigan to Pennsylvania and from Kansas to Kentucky, voters across the country and across the political spectrum said, "Enough."

In every state where abortion was on the ballot, voters supported protecting and expanding access.

NARAL's post-election polling confirmed that abortion played a central role in the midterm elections.

Conducted by Impact Research in key battleground states, we found that 45% of voters said that abortion played a larger role in their voting decisions than it had in past elections, including 64% of voters who ended up voting for a Democrat for Senate or governor, 52% of Black voters and 51% of voters aged 18 to 34.

But, that's not all we found.

Our research also showed that people are worried that anti-choice Republicans are working to further roll back our rights.

In fact a majority, 52%, say they are concerned that Republicans will try to ban abortion care including 74% of Black voters and 53% of non-Democrats who voted for Democrats in the midterm.

Voters are not done.

They remain fired up and are already mobilizing to elect more reproductive freedom champions.

They see the way these bans are harming real people, and they're ready to do something about it at the ballot box again.

New polling just out from Navigator Research proves that the intensity of support for abortion access has not decreased.

Three in four Americans believe that the government should not prevent a woman from making that decision herself, and nearly 7 in 10 Americans say the right to an abortion in the U.S. is at risk.

According to another study, Americans across many demographic groups support legal abortion in all or most cases, and those views did not change throughout 2022.

In fact, nearly 70% of young people support abortion in all or most cases, and there is not a single state in this country that supports overturning Roe.

That's all to say this issue is not going anywhere.

Reproductive freedom is a bread-and-butter issue.

It impacts every facet of our lives, and voters want to see their elected officials reflect their values.

Let's also be crystal clear here.

It's people, especially women of color, who have been leading the fight for reproductive freedom and pushing elected officials to get on board with the majority of Americans who believe in the right to legal abortion.

And women of color, Black women especially, have shown up at the polls time and again to elect champions and hold them accountable.

Women of color are a powerful voting bloc for reproductive freedom, and if we help our communities understand what's at stake, we'll have the ability to make lasting progressive change.

Already we've seen crucial wins across the country.

Leaders who support reproductive freedom are working to protect and expand access.

From state houses to Congress to the White House, we have champions for reproductive freedom who are fighting for us.

The contrast between our champions and the extremists pushing these bans couldn't be starker.

House Republicans have prioritized attacking reproductive freedom, putting anti-choice bills as one of their first actions upon gaining control.

Meanwhile, just yesterday, House Democrats reintroduced the Women's Health Protection Act.

This critical bill would restore the right to abortion and create a right for healthcare providers to provide that care and a corresponding right for people to receive that care free from medically unnecessary restrictions.

It's clear: to protect our most fundamental rights, we need our leaders in office who will fight for us and those rights, and now more than ever, we need to mobilize.

The anti-choice movement is not the majority: we are.

And, it's up to us to turn out and help realize a future where all our families and communities have what they need to thrive.

The midterm showed us last year when we fight for reproductive freedom, we win.

Voters are with us, and they're tired of having their rights trampled on.

The moment to harness our power and mobilize our communities to vote is now, and NARAL remains committed to working alongside our partners and members to protect our rights in 2024 and beyond.

- Thank you, Angela.

We have a couple of questions, immediately.

One of the key issues, I think, for, you know, women who aren't even in red states is, you-- how restriction-- restricting access to abortion pills will deepen women's engagement in California, say, for example.

Drugstores are saying they are not going to dispense the abortion pill.

How-?

What do you see as the impact of that?

- Really what it shows, and I think what we'll start to feel if this decision doesn't go the way of the pro-choice groups is that none of us are safe from the impact of abortion bans.

Even if abortion is protected in the state you're in, this decision would restrict or eliminate access to medication abortion in your state.

Even in states where there are bans that are not total on the books, they're still having an impact on the ability of people to get care in hospitals, either for miscarriage management or in some cases, like in Idaho, entire pregnancy and delivery wards are shutting down.

So, this really is not an issue that you can contain to any place or any part of a pregnancy.

It's going to hit us all, whether it's now or in a few months, but we will all continue to feel it.

- Thank you, Angela.

There will be questions for you in the chat, and I'm hoping that you might be able to address some of those, but in the spirit of time, we will move on next to Lupe Rodriguez.

Lupe, welcome!

- Hi.

Thank you so much for having me.

I appreciate this opportunity, [audio distorts] and thank you, everybody, for being here today.

As mentioned, my name is Lupe Rodriguez, and I'm the executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.

We go by Latina Institute, for short, and our website is latinainstitute.org At the organization, we're committed to building power in the Latino/Latinx community across the country.

And, you know, our goal, of course, is to ensure that the community has access to the sexual and reproductive healthcare we need including abortion care.

And, we work toward the reality one day that nobody will be denied care because of their income, age, race, disability, immigration status, or what state they call home.

For us, 50 years ago when Roe versus Wade gave us the right to abortion in the U.S., we also recognized that it never actually made abortion care accessible for the Latino and Latinx community and other communities of color.

Anti-abortion politicians have been working for decades to make abortion difficult to get, and the continued attacks on abortion access have fallen hardest on communities of color and people working to make ends meet.

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade last summer, the situation has only gotten worse.

Abortion bans are in effect in 13 states, and out-of-touch politicians across the country are continuing to move forward to ban abortion for even more Americans.

At Latina Institute, we worked with the National Partnership for Women and Families to release research that found that nearly 6.5 million Latinas, 42% of Latinas ages 15 to 49 live in the 26 states that have banned or are likely to ban abortion.

That group represents the largest group of women of color impacted by current or likely state bans.

Our research also found that nearly three million Latinas living in these states are economically insecure and already don't have access to the funds they need to travel to another state for abortion care.

We're not surprised by this.

As mentioned, you know, abortion bans fall hardest on Latinas and other communities of color who may work multiple jobs that provide no sick days or insurance coverage, and live in underserved communities.

These folks often don't have the time or money to travel to a different state to access abortion care.

And, we've also been looking specifically at individuals who are immigrants and without documentation.

People without documentation in states like Texas, where U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents set up internal checkpoints along major travel routes, you know, are not able to really travel to other states for abortion care because, you know, doing that risks the potential that they may reach one of these checkpoints.

And, at that point, you know, that is also a risk of family separation, detention, and potential deportation.

This fear of deportation coupled with the economic barriers, restrictions, and other obstacles has made it nearly impossible for many people who are undocumented from being able to leave states that have banned abortion and get the care they need.

At our organization, in addition to our national efforts, we work in Florida, Texas, New York, and Virginia, and our work there is in deep organizing to work with a community to expand access to care through those state legislatures as well as through policy advocacy at the local level, and organizing.

One of the things that we're seeing at the ground level is that many people are confused about what the laws are in their own states, and where they can go for information or health care.

This has demonstrated that there's a ton of misinformation and disinformation, particularly among the Latino and Latinx community which has become a huge issue for our communities.

Anti-abortion activists are doing everything they can to ban abortion, including through making false claims about abortion and the people who have or provide them to justify the banning and denying people care.

Since many of our community rely on social media and messaging platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp for information, which we have found usually do not fact-check content in Spanish.

This-- we have found that they are disproportionately exposed to mis- and disinformation about abortion.

One other thing is that, you know, we're expecting the decision any day now on an extreme case that could overturn the FDA's approval of mifepristone, which is a safe and effective medication commonly used for medication abortion care.

As time-sensitive essential healthcare, there should not be any medically unnecessary barriers or restrictions to medication abortion.

And, we see this particular case as part of an agenda to ban abortion nationwide.

And, like all restrictions on abortion, we know the impact will fall hardest on Latinas and Latinx community members and other communities of color.

We know that the majority of people in this country including Latinos and Latinx people support access to abortion care and do not want extreme politicians to interfere with their personal healthcare decisions.

For years, polls have found that the vast majority of people in our country support abortion care, and that has only increased since the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade.

In the last election, in fact, about 60% of Latinos voted for Democrats, and many of those candidates made support for abortion access a major part of their campaigns.

Victories in places like Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont, California, and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas which have shown that individuals are supportive of abortion care.

At the Latina Institute, we will continue to advocate for policies that support people's whole lives and are really excited to move forward to work with our community to expand information about upcoming opportunities to demonstrate their political power at the polls on their values about abortion access and health care.

Thank you.

- Lupe, thank you so much.

As I mentioned, there are a number of questions for you in the chat.

If you could please answer those, that would be terrific.

We move on to Ebony Baylor.

Ebony, welcome.

- Good afternoon, and good morning.

[audio distorts] My name is Ebony Baylor, and I serve as the vice president of government affairs for In Our Own Voice: National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda.

We are a nonpartisan national/state partnership designed to amplify and lift up the voices of Black women leaders in our ongoing fight to secure reproductive justice for all women and girls.

As a reproductive justice entity, we approach these issues from a human rights perspective, incorporating the intersections of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity with situational impacts of economic, politics, and culture that make up the lived experience of Black women in America.

At the core of reproductive justice is the belief that all women have the right to have children, the right to not have children, and the right to nurture the children we have in a safe and healthy environment.

Black reproductive justice organizations and our partners across the country are faced with ensuring their communities have access to reproductive healthcare including safe and affordable abortion care while also responding to other community needs.

The people in our communities live intersectional lives, and we need an intersectional, reproductive justice center legislative response.

Black women?

We do not live single-issue lives.

When thinking about who best represent us, we consider many factors.

Our civil and human rights are being attacked from all sides.

Lack of health care, clean water, child care, social justice, police violence and more are all things Black women think about when facing critical decisions about their lives, their families, and communities.

Black women voters are also concerned about our access to the ballot box.

Yes: Black women show up time and time again, and voter suppression and voter subversion laws are being introduced by elected leaders in state houses across the country at an alarming rate.

Polling locations in predominantly Black areas are being closed.

States are criminalizing passing out water and food at new locations where wait times are lengthy.

They're seeking to invalidate mail-in ballots with signature validation, which disproportionately impacts our seniors.

Time and time again, we have found that Black women voters overwhelmingly support bodily autonomy.

Our Intersection poll that we did in 2019-- and Intersections is a collaboration with Latina Institute and NAPAWF to talk about reproductive justice from the "women of color" lens.

Our poll in 2019, and in the In Our Own Voice poll that we did in 2022 found that nearly 90% of Black women supported people's rights to make their own reproductive decisions.

After the Dobbs decision, we found that the top issues that motivated Black women to turn out and vote were racial justice, gun violence and school shootings, human rights, women's rights, health care, and abortion rights.

When we think about abortion bans, we know they are rooted in anti-Black racism and misogyny.

The abortion pill mifepristone and other drugs used in medication abortion have been proven to be safe and effective multiple times over the last two decades.

Black women are experiencing an abortion access crisis alongside our maternal health crisis.

Our communities already fear what may happen to them if we choose to access abortion care.

There is also additional fear of potential criminalization for communities that are already oversurveyed and overpoliced.

In states where abortion is banned, the ability to travel is not a given.

Traveling to another state is expensive, and many people cannot just travel to another state without support.

So, looking at things like paid leave, transportation expenses, and other costs all impacts someone's ability to travel.

Again, as I mentioned, another reproductive issue impacting our communities is the maternal mortality crisis.

The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate of any high-income country, and the rate is on the rise.

Black women are three to four times as likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women, and they are twice as likely to suffer from serious complications.

Racism in our maternal healthcare system is the driver behind this crisis, and it intersects with the abortion access issue.

There are now people who are forced to carry pregnancies to term, and they likely will not have access to comprehensive and culturally competent maternal care.

In conclusion, reproductive justice is intersectional, and it touches many issues.

In Our Own Voice produces a report called the "Black Reproductive Justice Policy Agenda."

We are in the process of updating it.

It will be re-released this summer, but to learn more about our positions and to find the current report, you can visit www.blackrj.org - Thank you so much.

I have one question.

It's a very broad question for all of our speakers.

And, given the many issues that we are going to be grappling with as we face the next election cycle, how significant will reproductive rights be to what the candidates are saying and voter decisions?

Angela, let's start with you.

- I'm going to paraphrase something that someone told my boss, Mini [Timmaraju], recently, which is that we didn't stop caring about abortion when Roe was decided, and it's not going to go away now just because it's been overturned.

I think also, as you see more things come into effect like this potential ban on mifepristone, it's going to have a more direct impact on everyone's lives than ever before.

And so, you know, it won't go away.

We won't stop hearing bad stories.

And so, of course, it's going to have to be on folks' minds when they vote.

- Thank you.

Ebony?

[background outro music] - When we think about an organizing and a motivating factor for people to turn out, this is not gonna be a single issue because we are not a single-issue voter, and we have multiple issues that we look at.

This is going to be an important issue.

When we start to look at the things collectively and intersectionally, which is why we do reproductive justice, it is going to be a deciding factor because as we are thinking through and thinking about access, Black women are already not heard in the healthcare field.

So, this is just going to make the issue even worse as things are being limited [background music continues] or being repealed or being taken away.

So, when we start to think about our lives, our access, and just our existence, this is a issue that is going to be a part of it, but it won't be the only thing that we consider when we go to the polls.

- So, thank you to all of our speakers for joining us today.

This was a very robust conversation, and we very much appreciate all of your remarks.

Take care!

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