WOMEN’S MARCH STATEMENT ON WHPA VOTE

Contact: press@womensmarch.com

Amarillo, TX – Just now, the Senate failed to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have enshrined the right to abortion into federal law. In response, Women’s March Executive Director Rachel O’Leary Carmona released the following statement: 

“In many ways, this is a performative statement about a performative vote. Anyone who has paid even the slightest attention to the Women’s Health Protection Act knew it was doomed to fail in the Senate today. And now, as the largest women’s rights organization in the country, here we are—also predictably—condemning what happened. Senate Democrats look like they’re doing their jobs; we at Women’s March look like we’re doing ours. 

“The problem, though, is that real lives and rights are at stake. And our performances won’t save them. If anything, they only serve as distractions while the far right in this country continues chipping away at reproductive healthcare. We have to do better. We have to demand better.

“Enough with the performative votes, the performative tweets, even the performative fundraising emails. Enough with saying a lot and doing too little. If Senate Democrats want to show us they stand with women, they won’t allow the filibuster to kill our only shot at enshrining the right to abortion into federal law—they’ll kill the filibuster instead, and then hold a vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act that can actually pass. 

“Just as urgently, Democrats must expand the Supreme Court. So many of the constitutional rights we hold dear in this country—not just abortion, but marriage equality, electoral access, and more—were not granted by the legislature (federal, state, or otherwise). Instead, they were affirmed, often despite vocal objection from the legislature, by a Supreme Court that understood its duty was to function free from politics. 

“That Supreme Court no longer exists, as evidenced by the sledgehammer it’s already taken to voting rights and the sledgehammer it’s about to take to abortion. To restore it, confirming Judge Ketanji Jackson Brown—as worthy a nominee as we’ve ever seen—isn’t enough; we must also add more justices like her to balance out the Court. The justices who make decisions that impact all of our lives should represent all of America—not just Trump’s America. “No more performances. Now is a time for action.”

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