Texas legislators continue overstepping boundaries when it comes to women’s reproductive rights and it’s no secret that their decisions have greatly impacted Black women.
Via @ESSENCE:
“For background, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance around what is legal under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) of 1986. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said, “Under the law, no matter where you live, women have the right to emergency care — including abortion care.”
So when doctors in Texas denied a woman who was having pregnancy and fetal complications abortion care, she traveled to a different state where she could have the procedure done. Texas then argued “that this guidance amounts to illegal coercion by the Biden administration, forcing doctors and hospitals into providing abortions.”
The Texas Supreme Court ruled against this woman and in December, a federal court agreed. Then, on January 2, 2024 the Fifth Circuit of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling in Texas v. Becerra, meaning that the EMTALA guidance is not the prevailing law in Texas, @ESSENCE reports.
However, activists are vowing to continue fighting for Black women’s reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood encourages everyone to center Black communities and put pressure on political leaders to expand access to sexual and reproductive care.
“Anti-abortion politicians’ bid for control over our bodies clearly knows no bounds,” Alexis McGill Johnson, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America exclusively told @ESSENCE.
“She continued, “We must continue to center Black communities and their local leaders in our work to expand sexual and reproductive health care access, close these abysmal gaps in our medical systems, and push back on these harmful policies. As this ruling makes clear, lives are on the line.”
As y’all know, this is an election year and the Supreme Court is expected to release a decision “on whether or not to restrict access to medication abortion” around the “pill mifepristone.”
What are your thoughts, queens? #BWLM💕
