Pennsylvania Patients and Advocates Join Free & Just to Spotlight GOP Attacks on Abortion Access
HARRISBURG, PA –– Today, local patient storytellers and partners joined Free & Just to highlight how Trump Republican officials are working to ban abortion across the country –– even in states where it is legally protected. Together, they set the record straight about what’s at stake for Pennsylvanian’s health and freedom right now.
New data from Reproductive Freedom for All and Impact Research finds that Americans across the political spectrum are nearly as opposed to a national abortion ban as they are to middle class tax increases and sweeping cuts to Medicaid. Still, Trump and Republican lawmakers continue to launch deadly new attacks on access to reproductive health care.
“I had an abortion 9 years ago. It was my first pregnancy. My husband and I were filled with an easy joy in those early days, a feeling that would never again be replicated with my subsequent pregnancies. The first warning sign came after some testing at 12 weeks. Being a doctor myself, I should have realized that getting a call from your OB about test results may not bode well,” said Anusha Viswanathan, a Bucks County pediatrician who sought abortion care after her baby was diagnosed with a fatal fetal condition. “The diverse circumstances that lead people to seek abortions illustrate the need for reproductive freedom. It is gut-wrenching and infuriating that people like me need to be flayed open, the contents of our life stories examined for veracity and worth. But we are here, at this moment. Instead of addressing the challenges facing American families, Republicans cannot get past the A word. Abortion. Instead of advancing women’s health care, they are working to ban abortion nationwide and violate our personal privacy. You do not need tragic circumstances like mine to get an abortion. But with abortion restrictions, tragedies will be the inevitable consequence.”
“When abortion access is attacked and denied, people are forced into impossible situations. Their health, safety, privacy, economic stability, and sometimes their lives are all put at risk,” said Veronica Anna Rae, the Director of Development at the Abortion Liberation Fund of Pennsylvania, which has helped 500 people access care since April alone. “We are here to make one thing clear: the people of Pennsylvania deserve to have their stories heard. We deserve access to reproductive health care that is not only protected, but truly affordable and accessible in practice. And those who represent us should listen to patients, listen to families, and understand what is at stake for our communities.”
“I experienced a medical emergency right here in Central Pennsylvania. Patients are not getting the care they need with a doctor who understands their individual medical problems,” said Jessica St. Clair, a local professor who was denied abortion medication after experiencing a miscarriage during her first pregnancy. St. Clair was forced to wait two weeks and ultimately required emergency surgery to remove the tissue her body had not passed. I am telling this story because I believe neighbors across Pennsylvania deserve better than this. We deserve health care decisions made by doctors, grounded in medicine and compassion, not dictated by rigid rules that treat every patient’s most painful moment the same way. We deserve access to safe, timely care without worrying about the bill that follows. And we deserve a health care system that trusts patients and the doctors who care for them.”
You can watch the event here. If you are interested in speaking with any of the participants in the press event, please contact kelly@freeandjust.us.
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Free & Just is fighting to stop attacks on reproductive freedom and rights. We’re working with people across the country to share real stories to show the devastating consequences of attacks on our reproductive freedom. We all deserve the right to control our bodies and lives. That’s why we’re sharing our stories, raising our voices, and fighting for our future.