Governors from 20 states announce Reproductive Freedom Alliance

By

Shane Ersland

|

Governors from 20 states announced the creation of the Reproductive Freedom Alliance on Tuesday.

 

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The alliance is a non-partisan coalition of 20 governors committed to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom in their states, and is the largest such coalition ever convened. The alliance will work together to strengthen reproductive freedom in the face of “an unprecedented assault on abortion access and other forms of reproductive healthcare by states hostile to abortion rights and judges who are advancing their ideological agenda.” 

All governors who support reproductive freedom are welcome to join the alliance. Major funding for the alliance is provided by the California Wellness Foundation, with additional support coming from the Rosenberg Foundation.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, Delaware Gov. John Carney, Hawai’i Gov. Josh Green, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

Comments from governors included:

“This is an issue of freedom,” Inslee said. “Patients must have the freedom to make personal reproductive care decisions for themselves, without interference by activist politicians. Washington is taking strong action to protect these freedoms for every patient and provider in our state, and we are all in on the fight to protect a person’s right to an abortion across the country.”

“California has long been a leader in reproductive rights, but we can’t do it alone,” Newsom said. “We have gathered a coalition of bi-partisan governors to commit to reproductive freedom, and a coalition this size – 20 and counting – has never been done before. This Alliance is a moral obligation to what is right and will stand as a firewall to fight for and protect providers, patients, and all who are affected by these attacks on fundamental rights.”

“While some politicians want to restrict the ability of individuals to access reproductive health services and some states are criminalizing doctors and women like Texas, Colorado stands for freedom and empowering women and their doctors to make medical decisions without government interference or fear of retaliation,” Polis said. “Colorado values freedom for all to make their own choices on how to live their lives.”

“As a physician, husband and father as well as Governor of Hawaii, I know reproductive rights are a critical and central healthcare matter for all families,” Green said. “A woman’s right to choose and therefore control her own reproductive rights, was codified in Hawaiʻi law. Hawai‘i was, in fact, the first state to allow safe, legal abortion care, effective as of March 11, 1970. That was three years before Roe v. Wade legalized this aspect of healthcare policy across the U.S.”

“Here in Illinois, we know that abortion is healthcare and believe that a medical decision should be made between a patient and their doctor—not by extremist politicians,” Pritzker said. “As Illinois remains a beacon for reproductive healthcare in a region increasingly plagued by inhumane restrictions, I’m proud to join my fellow Governors to help fulfill the promise I made when Roe v. Wade was overturned: we will not go backwards.”

“I fully supported four bills heading to the floor of our state legislature that will protect abortion access, privacy, and out-of-state patients—including a bill to create a constitutional amendment that will enshrine reproductive rights in the Maryland Constitution,” Moore said. “I am proud to stand with other governors in the fight to protect and expand reproductive freedom. While some states have decided to move toward restricting women’s rights, I can assure you that here in Maryland, we will protect them.”

“Michiganders and Americans across the nation believe that everyone should be able to make their own decisions about their own body,” Whitmer said. “Access to abortion and other reproductive health care saves lives, and it’s why we will fight like hell to protect fundamental rights wherever they are under attack. Every American should be able to start a family if and when they are ready. I am proud to join this alliance and look forward to getting things done with my fellow governors.”

“Oregonians have fought incredibly hard to have among the strongest protections for reproductive rights in the country,” Kotek said. “But we know that overturning Roe v. Wade was the first step to ban abortion in every single state. We cannot afford to stand by and watch our fundamental right to reproductive health care be stripped away, not in Oregon, and not in the twenty states that have courageously joined the Reproductive Freedom Alliance. To the well over 150 million people we collectively represent who rely on these services: we have your back.”