NARAL (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League) Pro-Choice America, has just released the 20th edition of its report titled "Who Decides? The Status of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States." According to NARAL these are the changes that will impact women following last year’s elections.
1. In the U.S. Senate the number of anti-choice lawmakers increased from 40 to 46.
2. There are 246 anti-choice members in the U.S. House of Representatives compared to 203 last year. (It takes 218 to win a vote in the House.)
3. As far as governors are concerned the number of anti-choice governors went from 21 to 29.
4. The number of states that had both an anti-choice legislature and governor increased from 10 to 15.
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL, pointed out that the House of Representatives, whose Speaker is John Boehner, a man who happens to be anti-choice, could do the following:
1. Push the new “Stupak on Steroids” bill, which would jeopardize abortion coverage in the health care system and impose penalties on millions of American families that have private insurance plans that include abortion coverage.
2. Revive the Bush-era “abstinence-only” programs which were a failure, and that censored discussion of any birth control.
3. Cut funding for programs that dealt with family planning and that provide women health care, such as cancer screenings and birth control.
Prochoiceamerica.org has a map consisting of where all the governors stand on reproductive rights. The map also has information on the positions of all the legislatures as far as supporting a woman’s right to choose. You can also find out the grade that NARAL has given your state on reproductive rights.
According Keenan, “…what we’re seeing in Washington, D.C. and many legislatures across the country is more government interference in our personal, private lives, not less. We’re seeing bills that block women’s access to abortion and birth control - bills that will hurt the lives of women and families in our country.”