Democratic AGs Join Netroots Panel on Abortion Access
Dem AGs on Front Lines of Legal Fight to Defend Abortion
Washington, DC – Yesterday a group of Democratic Attorneys General joined Netroots Nation for a panel to discuss what they are doing on front lines of the legal fight to protect abortion access. In the weeks following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, there have been numerous attacks on reproductive health care at the state level to further restrict or ban abortion access. These attacks drive home the increased importance of Democratic Attorneys General in defending abortion access in their states, including protecting people who travel to their state to seek care, and navigating this new legal landscape.
California AG Rob Bonta, Connecticut AG William Tong, Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, and New York AG Letitia James participated in the panel and spoke on their ongoing work to protect the right to abortion.
California AG Rob Bonta discussed the stark difference between Democratic and Republican attorneys general. “The contrast couldn’t be sharper. The choice couldn’t be clearer. You have Attorneys General who will protect your rights, your freedoms, your safety, and you have those who will undermine them and strip those rights and those protections away…Republican AGs I believe have failed to defend and protect reproductive freedom, but the AGs here and Democratic AGs across the nation, we have not. We will use the full force of the law, the full authority of our offices to make sure that we protect, and defend, and support reproductive freedom to the fullest extent.”
Connecticut AG William Tong noted the importance of having Democratic AGs on the front lines of this legal fight if U.S. Congress tries to pass an abortion ban. “They may try, and they will try if they get control of one or both Houses of Congress to pass a nationwide ban on abortion. The first thing I will note is — on what basis? What power do they have in Congress to ban abortion? They don’t, number one. But if they try, the four of us and our colleagues will be the first to sue.”
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison shared how people can fight back right now. “The first thing you do to help make sure that people can have their right to a safe, legal abortion is educate yourself, understand what’s going on…And then what you want to do is connect with people who are already in the movement if you’re not involved…Connect with them, don’t just do it on your own. Study, connect with people who are working on it…Our only limitation is our imagination and our ability to work hard.”
New York AG Letitia James shared what different communities should be stepping up to help defend abortion access as so many right are on the line. “The business community, chambers of commerce, you can not have a functioning economy without a functioning democracy. And right now our democracy is being threatened by forces who would turn back the clock on progress on all the issues that I mentioned, the right to choose, the right to love, the right to organize, and the right to vote.”
Click here to watch the full panel discussion.
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