On the one-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade, Tarah Demant, National Director of Programs at Amnesty International USA, said:
“One year after the Supreme Court shamefully stripped millions of their rights, women, girls, and people who can become pregnant in the United States are facing an unprecedented human rights crisis.
“A patchwork of devastating laws now blankets the country. One in three women and girls of reproductive age now live in states where abortion access is either totally or near-totally inaccessible. Massive healthcare deserts exist, forcing people to travel thousands of miles for abortion care, and a climate of fear is being purposefully sewn to restrict women, girls, and people who can get pregnant from finding legal abortion care.
“Women, girls, and people who can get pregnant face a grim reality in states where they lack access to abortion: the states with the toughest abortion laws have the weakest maternal support, higher maternal death rates, and higher child poverty rates. And anti-rights groups continue to try to criminalize abortion through further bans, bounty systems to report abortion seekers, impeding access to medication abortion, and restricting information about abortion.
"A patchwork of devastating laws now blankets the country. One in three women and girls of reproductive age now live in states where abortion access is either totally or near-totally inaccessible"
Tarah Demant, National Director of Programs at Amnesty International USA
“Yet despite these coordinated and vitriolic attacks on our rights, Americans continue to overwhelmingly support access to safe and legal abortion, multiple states have added new protections, and activists across states continue to advocate for their rights. Abortion is a human right and basic healthcare, and activists across the country and around the world are more determined than ever to ensure that people across the USA will be able to access this right.”
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:
“The reversal of Roe vs. Wade one year ago was a dangerous setback in the context of otherwise steady global progress for abortion rights. Last year, the United States joined a very small group of countries that have restricted abortion rights in recent years, including Poland, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Elsewhere, the progress to decriminalize and legalize abortion in places like Ireland, Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia has been a tremendous gain for the global community. It’s clear the United States is moving in the wrong direction – setting a terrible example worldwide and putting women, girls and pregnant people at risk along the way.”
