As conservative Republicans continue to wage an unprecedented war on women this election season, The Center for Reproductive Rights on Tuesday launched their "Draw the Line" campaign, urging Americans to sign a Bill of Reproductive Rights to be presented to the new president following the November election.
New laws limiting access to abortion in recent years prompted the campaign, CRR president Nancy Northrup told Mother Jones.
The Bill of Rights seeks to ensure legal access to abortion and contraception for all women.
The campaign features videos starring high-profie celebrities reacting to recent news stories attacking women and women's rights,.
In one, actors Kyra Sedgewick and Kevin Bacon watch a video of Georgia Rep. Terry England comparing women to farm animals.
According to The Huffington Post, The Center for Reproductive Rights has been fighting court battles against state-level laws that chip away at abortion rights for the past 20 years, including forced ultrasound laws, 20-week abortion bans, parental consent laws, and onerous physical plant requirements for clinics.
"We knew it was time to not only continue defending in the courts, but to begin a very aggressive campaign with a clear articulation of what it is that we are seeking to establish," CRR president and CEO Nancy Northup told reporter Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones. Northrup added, "You shouldn't have a different set of rights as a woman in Mississippi as you do in New York."
"This is the first time we've done anything like this, and we are fired up," Northup told The Huffington Post. "We're active in the courts and have an excellent track record of being able to stop these laws, and we think it's important that the rights are not just recognized by courts but that people stand up and talk about the rights they want to have."
The Bill of Reproductive Rights, available at DrawTheLine.org, states:
We the people of the United States hereby assert the following as fundamental human rights that no government may deny, and that our governments at every level must guarantee and safeguard for all.
1. The right to make our own decisions about our reproductive health and future, free from intrusion or coercion by any government, group, or individual.
2. The right to a full range of safe, affordable, and readily accessible reproductive health care—including pregnancy care, preventive services, contraception, abortion, and fertility treatment—and accurate information about all of the above.
3. The right to be free from discrimination in access to reproductive health care or on the basis of our reproductive decisions.
