Pro-Abortion Groups Rip Dems…For Not Going Far Enough

Pro-Abortion Groups Rip Dems…For Not Going Far Enough

Laurel Duggan on April 4, 2023

Pro-abortion activist groups are withholding support for some Democrat-backed measures because they don’t enshrine legal abortion after a child can survive outside the womb, according to Politico.

The Roe v. Wade precedent blocked any restrictions on abortion prior to viability, the point at which a child can survive outside the womb, which is generally defined at around 24 weeks. Several states are considering ballot measures to codify the Roe precedent, but pro-abortion groups have criticized and in some cases refused to support these measures because they don’t include a right to late-term abortions, according to Politico.

“We would never advocate for a false or politically determined limit on abortion,” Pamela Merritt, the Missouri-based executive director of Medical Students for Choice, told Politico. “Viability is an arbitrary line. It’s a legacy of Roe that we don’t need to resurrect. And we know the language of viability can be manipulated by state legislatures, just as they are already trying to redefine what a child is or what rape is.”

Whether it’s abortion or gender-affirming care, politicians have no place in our health care decisions. We’re en route to #MoLeg w/ trans folks & allies to send a message to politicians: Stay out of health care decisions that belong to trans youth, their families, & their doctors pic.twitter.com/lMMMMFTn8p

— Planned Parenthood Advocates: STL & Southwest MO (@ppact_stl_swmo) March 29, 2023

Missouri’s Planned Parenthood affiliate pulled out of the state ballot effort because most of the proposed versions didn’t protect abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy, according to Politico.

“We have long said that Roe was never enough, especially for marginalized communities shouldering the hardest impact of abortion bans,” Vanessa Wellbery, the vice president of policy and advocacy for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, told Politico. “We are deeply committed to rebuilding a system that ensures all people can access abortion and all providers can provide it without political or legislative interference.”

Some pro-abortion groups are supporting ballot measures like those in Ohio and Nevada, which protect abortion until viability, and South Dakota’s, which would legalize abortion through the second trimester, or until about 26 weeks, because they’re more popular with voters and easier to pass, according to Politico. They see the measures as a necessary compromise on the way to even more lenient abortion laws.

“Yes, Roe was always the floor. But right now Missouri is in the basement,” said Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Pro-Choice Missouri. “It’s not the end game. It’s the first step in a long term effort and process.”