After a wave of near-total abortion bans from a staggering eight states in the last few weeks, more than events were planned for a national day of action on Tuesday, and Latinas showed out. A National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health NLIRH survey showed that more than half of Latinas can imagine a situation in which abortion could be the right choice for them or their partner.
According to NLIRH, four in ten Latino voters under age 45 have gone without birth control they wanted in the last two years because of access issues. The research is there.
The bans will most significantly impact impoverished communities and women of color. Alabama is the most extreme with a total ban on abortion after six weeks before most women know they are pregnant, with no exception for rape and incest.
The threat to abortion access is causing women across the country to share their own abortion stories. For years, women were dying in the U. Now, women are fearful that we are going back to a time where women will die again trying to access abortions. For marginalized women and non-binary folks, the ability to detect a missed period, take off work, for both the abortion and transportation to a clinic are nearly insurmountable in such a short amount of time.
Many argue that these laws are effectively total abortion bans, which Roe V Wade deemed unconstitutional. This is disproportionately going to impact poor women and women of color in greater numbers. It will all come down to a conservative-leaning Supreme Court decision and abortion advocates are nervous at the prospect of the Supreme Court hearing the case. The migrants, who are fleeing sexual violence and are often carrying the product of rape, have been barred, and in some cases, almost forced to carry the fetus to term.
