Issues
Reproductive Justice
One hundred percent pro-choice
I believe abortion is a moral issue, but it is an issue of private, not public morality. I do not believe government has that right to legislate our private morals.
Regarding abortion rights, I am one hundred percent pro-choice.
I believe the decision of whether or not to have an abortion lies solely with a pregnant woman, according to the dictates of her conscience and in communion with the God of her understanding. I trust the moral decision-making of the American woman, and I do not feel the government has a right to deny or restrict her decisions.
Expanding a woman’s understanding of her alternatives to termination is a good thing. But eradicating or limiting abortion rights would not decrease their number. It would simply mean that rich women have safe abortions, while poor women go back to risking injury, or even death, in the modern equivalent of back-alley abortions. That, to me, is morally unacceptable on the part of society.
In several states, restrictive measures such as the closing of abortion clinics and forced vaginal probes are currently in play. Planned Parenthood, a sole source of medical care for millions of women, is under attack in various states in an effort to block the availability of reproductive choice.
As president, I would seek to protect the right of every woman to make her own decisions, in her own way, regarding her reproductive choices. The choice of whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is difficult enough without the government weighing in on the decision. I would vigorously resist any effort to restrict, limit, or diminish the reproductive rights and freedoms granted by Roe v. Wade.
Specifics
The devastating decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to abandon its duty to protect a woman’s fundamental rights and overturn Roe v. Wade has had a devastating impact on millions of women across the U.S. The Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abandons nearly five decades of precedence and marks the very first time that the Supreme Court has taken away a fundamental right.
The Williamson Administration will protect reproductive rights by:
- Appointing federal judges and Supreme Court judges who acknowledge Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, and support the Constitutional right to Privacy.
- Codify Roe v. Wade into a federal law
- Expand and Restore Funding for Planned Parenthood, and other local healthcare clinics that provide abortion and other services.
- Create a federal program that provides contraception resources, especially for low-income communities.
- Repeal the Hyde and Helms Amendments.
- Ban Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers (TRAP) Laws.
- Refuse Title X funding for “crisis pregnancy centers”
- Emphasize reproductive justice and end the Black Maternal Mortality Crisis
- Encourage Congress to pass the Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act (SB. 1567)
- Encourage Congress to expand funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program
- Expand the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
- Encourage eligible families to take advantage of the programs’ benefits
- Protect access to reproductive health clinics with a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) law. Federal law and a few states currently provide FACE Acts.
- Ensure the confidentiality of the home addresses of abortion providers. California has a “Safe at Home” law for the employees of reproductive health clinics who fear for their safety.
- Provide a protected space for patients and staff entering or leaving reproductive health clinics. Colorado, Montana, and a few cities have laws that keep protesters a reasonable distance from people trying to access a clinic.
- Provide a mechanism in civil law that allows abortion providers to hold individuals accountable for acts of violence and harassment.
- Treat crimes perpetrated against clinics, clinic workers, and patients that are motivated by opposition to abortion as hate crimes.
- Ensure that women receive proper care and guidance whether they choose to carry a baby to term, or exercise their right to choose.
- Expand funding for sexual education in K-12 and in Higher Education
- Work to Combat the “Post-Birth Abortion” Myth
- Encourage Congress to pass the Pink Tax Repeal Act (H.R. 3853)
- Vigorously oppose federal and state legislation designed to shame, harass, punish, or further restrict women from exercising their constitutional right to choose.
