From ballot measures to extreme anti-abortion candidates, voters in the 2022 midterm elections issued a clear directive on reproductive rights. In all five states with ballot measures, abortion won every time. In California, Vermont, and Michigan, voters enshrined abortion in the state constitution. In Kentucky and Montana, voters rejected attempts to further restrict abortion access.
While not every abortion access champion won their race, Democrats now have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, solidified by Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s defeat of anti-abortion hypocrite Herschel Walker.
Abortion is a winning issue. It’s time our state lawmakers started acting like it, not only in blue states, but in purple and red states across the country, too. There are multiple steps our elected officials can take to protect abortion at the state level, particularly attorneys general.
Sign the petition to state attorneys general: Voters in the 2022 midterm elections made themselves clear: protect self-managed abortion.
State attorneys general wield considerable power as the chief litigator and law enforcement officer in their state. They can make a real difference for people seeking abortion care or self-managing their abortions.
Legal protections for people who self-manage abortion are murky, and while self-managed abortion isn’t explicitly illegal in most states, that hasn’t stopped police and politicians from attempting to criminalize it. “In this moment, when the state itself seems to be the primary danger for people seeking abortions, those abortion support networks remain very important,” Laura Huss, senior researcher for If/When/How, told Prism. “Criminalization does not belong in health care.”
RELATED STORY: Despite being legal in most states, self-managed abortion is being criminalized
Attorneys general can shield their constituents from that criminalization by prohibiting law enforcement resources from being used to prosecute self-managed abortion care and urging district attorneys to issue nonprosecution policies.
Anti-abortion advocates are using every trick in their playbook to go after self-managed abortion. It would be negligent if we didn’t try every tool at our disposal to counter their attacks—especially now that voters have spoken in states of every political stripe across the country.
It’s time for statewide elected officials to step up and assert their authority to prevent further criminalization of abortion, particularly self-managed abortion.
While not every abortion access champion won their race, Democrats now have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, solidified by Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s defeat of anti-abortion hypocrite Herschel Walker.
Abortion is a winning issue. It’s time our state lawmakers started acting like it, not only in blue states, but in purple and red states across the country, too. There are multiple steps our elected officials can take to protect abortion at the state level, particularly attorneys general.
Sign the petition to state attorneys general: Voters in the 2022 midterm elections made themselves clear: protect self-managed abortion.
State attorneys general wield considerable power as the chief litigator and law enforcement officer in their state. They can make a real difference for people seeking abortion care or self-managing their abortions.
Legal protections for people who self-manage abortion are murky, and while self-managed abortion isn’t explicitly illegal in most states, that hasn’t stopped police and politicians from attempting to criminalize it. “In this moment, when the state itself seems to be the primary danger for people seeking abortions, those abortion support networks remain very important,” Laura Huss, senior researcher for If/When/How, told Prism. “Criminalization does not belong in health care.”
RELATED STORY: Despite being legal in most states, self-managed abortion is being criminalized
Attorneys general can shield their constituents from that criminalization by prohibiting law enforcement resources from being used to prosecute self-managed abortion care and urging district attorneys to issue nonprosecution policies.
Anti-abortion advocates are using every trick in their playbook to go after self-managed abortion. It would be negligent if we didn’t try every tool at our disposal to counter their attacks—especially now that voters have spoken in states of every political stripe across the country.
It’s time for statewide elected officials to step up and assert their authority to prevent further criminalization of abortion, particularly self-managed abortion.