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reproductive rights
Gwen Walz Shares Her Fertility Journey Ahead of US Election
"Thank you Gwen Walz for powerfully sharing your fertility journey and committing to protecting fertility treatments for all Americans."
Oct 14, 2024
Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz—whose husband, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, is U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate—shared her full fertility journey in an essay published by Women's Health on Monday, just weeks away from the November 5 election.
The Democrats are set to face Republican former President Donald Trump—who is voting to uphold Florida's six-week abortion ban and brags about having appointed three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who reversedRoe v. Wade—and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), whose selection was seen as further proof that their administration would "stop at nothing to ban all abortion" at the federal level.
Since Harris took the torch from President Joe Biden this past summer, she has had widespread support from reproductive freedom advocates. They celebrated her choosing the Minnesota governor, who signed bills strengthening abortion protections and shielding people who seek or provide abortions or gender-affirming care from legal action by conservative states.
"Donald Trump is the one who took down Roe. I don't trust him. And frankly, I'm not willing to put my daughter's reproductive health in his hands."
Throughout the campaign, Tim and Gwen Walz have shared their difficult journey to conceiving their two children: 23-year-old Hope, and Gus, who turned 18 on Sunday. As the Minnesota first lady detailed in Women's Health, she had "felt pangs of frustration and anger since Roe was overturned" but was ultimately pushed to speak out by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling.
In February, Alabama's high court recognized frozen embryos as children who must be protected by the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, halting in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the state and elevating fears of what Republican control of Congress and the White House would mean for the future of fertility treatments and reproductive freedom more broadly.
"I don't think anyone should be telling us when, if, or how to start families. But when the Alabama Supreme Court ruling came down, that was a moment when it was just like, okay, now we're here," Gwen Walz wrote. "We went through this difficult time for a purpose—to have our children—but there's another purpose now. We have an opportunity, in leadership roles as governor and first lady, and now on the campaign trail for Kamala Harris, to tell our story. So, we told it all across the country."
She recalled taking Clomid, "a medication that increases the hormones that stimulate egg production in your ovaries and can help you get pregnant," and coordinating her schedule with their "wonderful neighbor Mary," a nurse and mother of three who helped administer shots to boost her chances of pregnancy and successful fertilization.
"When we finally conceived Hope using intrauterine insemination (IUI), it was right before Easter. We'd been struggling with infertility for years by that point," Walz wrote. "You never imagine that your daughter is going to have fewer rights than you do. And in 21 states that have abortion bans or gestational limits right now, that is the case."
"Donald Trump is the one who took down Roe. I don't trust him. And frankly, I'm not willing to put my daughter's reproductive health in his hands. If he's elected, I think there will be a nationwide abortion ban," she continued. "But I plan on making my voice heard at the ballot box. There's a clear choice between Kamala Harris and my husband, Tim—who trust women—and Trump and JD Vance, who do not. Everyone has to understand that you have the power to make this choice, and the power to respect reproductive freedom for every single woman in every single family—so that if, when, or how you want to have a family is up to you."
Welcoming the essay on social media, Reproductive Freedom for All said, "Thank you Gwen Walz for powerfully sharing your fertility journey and committing to protecting fertility treatments for all Americans."
Reproductive Freedom for All has endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket and has been working to reach voters in key states. The group's president and CEO, Mini Timmaraju, said earlier this month that "one of the most powerful ways we can mobilize voters is by speaking to the people we know in our own communities."
"Voters have never been so fired up about abortion," she added. "Our reproductive freedom is at stake and we can't afford to do anything less than leave it all on the field."
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Welcoming the Men in Red States Speaking Out for Abortion Rights
More and more men are stepping up and joining Men4Choice, a national organization dedicated to recruiting men in the fight for safe and legal abortion.
Sep 28, 2024
Like it or not, abortion access has always been viewed as a “women’s problem.” Men rarely talked about it, at least not publicly, and it didn’t seem to rank very high on their list of political priorities.
Not anymore.
Since Donald Trump proudly took credit for overturning Roe v. Wade with his anti-choice Supreme Court appointments, men have been forced to pay more attention — particularly in red states with the most restrictive abortion policies.
As the costs of extreme abortion bans have mounted, men have seen their partners forced to delay or forgo essential medical care — whether bleeding out in emergency room parking lots while suffering a miscarriage or taking on the huge expense of traveling between states. In extreme cases, they’ve seen their partners die.
Husbands with wives who’ve been denied care when a pregnancy goes wrong are now waking up and speaking out.
As a recent Washington Post article highlighted, one such couple had to drive 400 miles from their home in Arkansas to reach an Illinois clinic willing to end a pregnancy with a malformed fetus that would be stillborn if carried to term. The ordeal was enough to convert the husband from abortion opponent to pro-choice advocate working to get an abortion measure on the state ballot.
In states that ban abortion, virtually all clinics have closed since the Dobbs decision obliterated a woman’s right to control her own body. Facilities in bordering states have meanwhile been inundated with pleas from desperate couples seeking help.
More and more men are stepping up and joining Men4Choice, a national organization dedicated to recruiting men in the fight for safe and legal abortion. The group hosts community education events with young pro-choice men and organizes Get Out the Vote events mobilizing hundreds of male allies for contacting voters.
“It’s not just about abortion. It’s about freedom. It’s about power,” founder Oren Jacobson told the Post. A prominent ally is second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who helps the group with outreach to broaden their membership.
According to data reported in the New York Times, more than 171,000 patients traveled for an abortion in 2023. That’s double the number who crossed state lines for an abortion in 2019, accounting for nearly a fifth of recorded abortions. It’s a grim reminder of the upheaval in access since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. 2024 data is of course not complete, but there’s no evidence that cross border trips for the procedure have slowed.
Then there are the uncounted casualties of these draconian bans: women unable to travel out of state for an abortion even though they desperately want or need the procedure. That includes women working at low wage jobs who can’t afford to take time off, cover child care costs while they’re away, and pay for gasoline, food, and lodging for the trip.
Who knows how far this could go? Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) has already signaled his support for prosecuting women who cross state lines for abortions. And in some states, zealots are trying to revive the 1873 Comstock Act to make birth control pills illegal.
There’s no reason to think they’ll stop there. Why not limit men’s choices too? Outlaw vasectomies and take condoms off the drug store shelves. Don’t laugh — it could happen.
Bottom line: men, particularly in restrictive red states, are waking up and speaking out. It’s a good bet their numbers will grow, and access to abortion will at last no longer be seen as just a woman’s problem. Because it isn’t.
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Harris Backs Eliminating Senate Filibuster to Restore Federal Abortion Rights
"This is so important," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal. "Congress needs to step up and codify abortion rights—and we do that by ending the filibuster."
Sep 24, 2024
The Democratic presidential nominee, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, on Tuesday endorsed eliminating the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade, the federal abortion rights ruling that was overturned two years ago.
"It is well within our reach to hold onto the majority in the Senate and take back the House," Harris, a former U.S. senator, toldWisconsin Public Radio. "I would also emphasize that while the presidential election is extremely important and dispositive of where we go moving forward, it also is about what we need to do to hold onto the Senate and win seats in the House."
"I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe," she continued. "And get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back in law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person and every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do."
Multiple current lawmakers joined a wide range of reproductive rights advocates in welcoming Harris' comments about ending the filibuster, which requires 60 of the Senate's 100 members to agree to hold a final vote on a bill.
"This is so important," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus and has shared her own abortion story. "Abortion access is under attack as extreme MAGA Republicans pass cruel laws to strip away our rights. Congress needs to step up and codify abortion rights—and we do that by ending the filibuster."
Unable to pass any defenses of reproductive healthcare in the divided Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has instead held recent votes on legislation regarding abortion, birth control, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) to call out Republicans.
"The filibuster is an undemocratic rule that prevents us from passing policies that a majority of Americans want. Look no further than last week's IVF vote," Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said Tuesday. "Could not agree more with Vice President Harris."
The Hillreported that after Harris' comments, Schumer told journalists that if Senate Democrats retain their majority next year, they will discuss creating an abortion "carveout" in the filibuster rule to pass abortion rights legislation.
Meanwhile, the campaign of former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the November election, claimed on social media Tuesday that Harris' position is a "real threat to democracy."
In response, Nina Turner, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, declared that "the filibuster is anti-democratic in nature. It's a rule that takes the votes necessary in the Senate from 50 to 60."
Another critic of Harris' position was
retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), a key supporter of the filibuster. According toCNN's Manu Raju, the former Democrat—who left the party in May—responded to the vice president's remarks by saying, "Shame on her."
"She knows the filibuster is the Holy Grail of democracy. It's the only thing that keeps us talking and working together. If she gets rid of that, then this would be the House on steroids," Manchin continued, adding that he wouldn't support Harris for president.
Veteran Democratic political strategist Tom Bonier
said that "defending 'the filibuster' over women's bodily autonomy is one heck of a way for Joe Manchin to leave the scene. Though I imagine this lack of endorsement helps Harris much more than it hurts her."
While Manchin was a Democrat, he was a major obstructionist of the party's agenda under President Joe Biden—who backed a filibuster carveout for legislation to codify abortion rights in 2022. The other primary defender of the filibuster is Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who ditched the Democratic Party later that year and is also leaving the chamber after this term.
In the absence of federal legislation, GOP state lawmakers have ramped up efforts to restrict reproductive freedom since the U.S. Supreme Court's right-wing justices—including three Trump appointees— reversedRoe with their June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.
Given the Republican-led attacks, reproductive freedom has been a major focus of the presidential contest. While Trump has
bragged about his role in reversing Roe, Harris has blamed him for states' recently enacted and deadly abortion bans.
It is "great to finally hear Kamala Harris be clear as our candidate about ending the filibuster to restore abortion rights nationwide," For All founder Kai Newkirk said Tuesday. "Abolishing the Jim Crow relic minority veto is essential to undo abortion bans and deliver the progress our nation needs."
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