A federal push to guarantee women in the United States access to abortions failed this week after Republicans including Sens. Burr and Tillis blocked debate.
Reproductive rights have a shaky future in the United States right now.
The US Supreme Court, where conservative justices are in the majority, plans on issuing a ruling later this year that is largely anticipated to chip away at the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which guaranteed people a right to seek an abortion early on in a pregnancy.
Black and Latina women are among those that stand to be most affected if abortion access is further restricted, especially in the South, given already existing barriers to health care access.
That’s why the US House of Representatives, where Democrats are in the majority, passed the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have enshrined people’s right to have a child when it’s best for them. It also would have stopped states from tacking on medically unnecessary restrictions to accessing care.
But the reproductive protections bill couldn’t get past resistance in the US Senate this week, where largely male Republican Senators refused to even bring the measure to be debated or voted on.
Among those standing in the way? NC’s Republicans Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis.
Sarah Ovaska is an senior editor and reporter at Cardinal & Pine. A veteran investigative journalist from North Carolina, her byline has appeared at The News & Observer, NC Policy Watch, NC Health News & More.
