Debate Moderators Need to #AskAboutAbortion

With the national right to legal abortion now gone, states across the country have rushed to ban abortion. More people than ever must travel long distances for their abortion care, driving up the cost and adding logistical barriers, or carry pregnancies to term against their will.

The vast majority of the public — 7 in 10 voters — oppose state abortion bans, travel restrictions, and criminalizing patients. 

Debate moderators must ask questions about abortion so that voters can hear directly from candidates about how they will ensure people have the freedom to get abortion care and make their decisions about their lives and futures with dignity.

We urge debate moderators to #AskAboutAbortion:

“The end of Roe v. Wade has led to state abortion bans, forced travel, interference with miscarriage care, and criminalization of patients and doctors.If elected, what are your specific, concrete plans to ensure that people are able to get abortions right now?”

For decades, the Hyde Amendment has long denied people, especially people of color working to make ends meet, the ability to get the abortion care they need. Policies like this force 1 in 4 low-income women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. If elected, will you end our state’s coverage bans/the Hyde Amendment and related abortion coverage bans?

Should states be able to override the FDA and ban medication abortion?

The decision of whether and when to become a parent is one of the most important decisions someone can make in their life, and the fallout of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade will have an impact on all of us for an entire generation. This issue is too important to leave unaddressed in our political debates.