09.23.2015
Media

Press Release: Advocates’ Statement on recent anti-abortion bills

As anti-choice legislators continue to attack reproductive health and rights, Advocates for Youth reaffirms our commitment to supporting the ability of every person to seek the reproductive healthcare they need. We applaud our champions in the Senate for blocking the so-called “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” on September 22, 2015. The bill (H.R. 36) would have banned all abortion care at 20 weeks post-fertilization, and contained very narrow, limited exceptions for survivors of sexual assault, rape or incest that would endanger young people’s health and lives.

Unfortunately, some members of Congress continue fighting unabashedly to restrict access to abortion care and other reproductive health services. On September 18, 2015, the House passed H.R. 3134 and H.R. 3504, which would remove all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, and further criminalize abortion providers, respectively. Planned Parenthood health clinics are invaluable sources of confidential healthcare and education services for young people across the country, and Advocates remains a steadfast supporter of their work. We urge the Senate to block these bills, as well.

nn

Congressional efforts to restrict healthcare services and access are shortsighted and misguided. Instead, Advocates for Youth supports the efforts of those who truly care about protecting young people’s health and safety and are working to address the needs of people who seek health care. Young people do not need new federal laws criminalizing and limiting their health care decisions. Congress should not be in the business of denying anyone their constitutional rights.

###

Advocates for Youth is a national non-profit that advocates for policies and champions programs that recognize young people’s rights to: honest sexual health information; accessible, confidential, and affordable sexual health services; and the resources and opportunities necessary to create sexual health equity for all youth. Advocates’ Youth Activist Network stands 75,000 strong on 1,000 campuses and in tens of thousands of communities.

For Immediate Release  Septemeber 23, 2015
Contact

Rachel Cooke
202.419.3420
rachel@advocatesforyouth.org